Bookish.com is a
content discovery
A content discovery platform is an implemented software recommendation platform which uses recommender system tools. It utilizes user metadata in order to discover and recommend appropriate content, whilst reducing ongoing maintenance and develo ...
and
ecommerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manag ...
website, which launched in February 2013, devoted to
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this phys ...
s. The site allows users to browse an extensive
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...
of books and
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
s, add books to user-created digital "shelves", get custom book recommendations, read editorial content and purchase physical books,
ebook
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
s, and
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sch ...
s.
History
Bookish was founded in 2011 in a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
backed by three of the ''big six''
publishing companies –
Hachette Book Group
Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère G ...
,
Penguin Group
Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...
(USA), and
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...
– with the goal of increasing the presence of book publishers in the book-buying industry (which was becoming increasingly dominated by
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econom ...
due to the increased popularity of online bookstores), as well as to expand the overall book-buying market.
The site was expected to launch in the summer of 2011, but the launch was delayed due to technical issues relating to data compilation, as well as a lawsuit filed by the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...
in 2012 against
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
and five major publishing companies regarding the pricing of ebooks. The site officially launched in February 2013 with the support of sixteen additional publishing companies.
In early 2014, online ebook
retailer
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, an ...
Zola Books
Zola Books is a New York based social eBook retailer that combines a social network, bookseller and recommendation engine. Founded by literary agents and launched in September 2012. the company was described by ''The Washington Post'' as "a ventu ...
, attracted by the site's sophisticated “algorithmic software” that offers reading suggestions, acquired Bookish.
Features
*Custom book recommendations
*User-created digital bookshelves
*
Goodreads
Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...
shelf-import feature
*Articles, newsletters, and author interviews
*Book lists, reviews, and
listicle
In journalism and blogging, a listicle is an article that is structured as a list, which is often fleshed out with additional text relating to each item. A typical listicle will prominently feature a cardinal number in its title, with subsequent s ...
s
*eReader app for
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
/
iPhone
*Online
bookstore
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...
See also
*
aNobii
Anobii (stylized, anobii) is a social networking site aimed at readers. Its website was launched in 2006 by Greg Sung. It was acquired by the publisher Mondadori in 2014 from a venture backed by HMV Group, HarperCollins, Penguin , and Rand ...
*
Babelio
Babelio is a French social cataloging website and a mobile app dedicated to literature. It is a social network for users to review books and generate personal library catalogs, which can be shared and commented on by other users.
It has been c ...
*
BookArmy BookArmy was a social networking website and book recommendation tool for readers, owned by HarperCollins. BookArmy was launched in February 2009, and closed in December 2010.
After being in private beta for some months the site went live in Februa ...
*
Readgeek
Readgeek is an online book recommendations engine and social cataloging service launched in December 2010. The website allows users to search for books matching their individual taste making use of several algorithms. Taking ratings and metadat ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Official WebsiteBook Summary AppTales In Time Website
American book websites