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 ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' as "a venture whose strategy is to combine all three of the e-book world’s major market functions — retailing, curation and social-networking — in an ambitious bid to become a one-stop destination for book lovers on the Web".

History

Zola Books was founded 2012 by Joe Regal. Several authors invested in Zola, including

Audrey Niffenegger Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963) is an American writer, artist, and academic. Her debut novel, '' The Time Traveler's Wife'', published in 2003, was a bestseller. Biography Audrey Niffenegger was born in 1963 in South Haven, Michigan. At ...

, Gregory David Roberts and

Chandler Burr Chandler Burr is an American journalist, author, and museum curator. Early life and education Born in Chicago and raised in Washington, D.C., Burr graduated from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. He began his journalism career in 1987 as ...

. Zola Books acquired Bookish.com in January 2014, desiring Bookish.com's algorithmic software, which gave users book recommendations and suggestions. Zola launched "The Everywhere Store," its own e-commerce widget, in October 2015. In 2016, Zola completed a follow-up round of financing, earning $8.5 million.

Corporate affairs

Leadership

Zola Books is led by Co-Founders Joe Regal and Michael Strong. Other key executives are: * Matt Goldfarb, Chief Technology Officer * Anita Perala, Director Product Development * Maryann Regal, Director Customer Service

Products

The site currently sells six eBook exclusives: ''The Accidental Victim ''by James Reston Jr., Isaac Marion's '' The New Hunger'', ''Making Mavericks'' by surfer Frosty Hesson, ''The Chemickal Marriage'' by Gordon Dahlquist, ''Autumn Leaves'' by comic Annabelle Gurwitch and '' The Time Traveler's Wife'' by

. The company will soon start selling eBooks from a variety of different publishers. The social aspects of the website come from the ability to follow authors, publishers and other readers, read book lists created by them, and see what friends are reading and where they highlight or mark passages in a book. The site also features publishing news, exclusive author Q&As, and a large amount of book reviews. Zola is supportive of independent bookstores and provides them with storefronts on the site and a way for customers to pledge their allegiance to a certain store so that store receives money from all of that customer's purchases on the site.

Miscellaneous

The name Zola comes from the idea of including everything from Z to A on the website and being like

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

but backwards.

References

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External links

Official Website
Book selling websites Privately held companies based in New York City