It’s been a long-standing paradox that teenagers are the demographic least likely to adopt to digital reading. While they have always been stereotypically known for being the most tech savvy among us, there has been an identifiable divide between using their devices for fun and using their devices for what may be considered academics.
Now, Barnes and Noble is working on encouraging young adult e-reading with the launch of two new series for the NOOK. Both are from Alloy Entertainment, creators of The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, and the Pretty Little Liars titles.
According to a press release from Barnes and Noble, “Fans of widely popular titles from Alloy Entertainment can now enjoy Iva-Marie Palmer’s The End of the World As We Know It, a novel about a group of misfit teens facing an alien invasion, and Elena Perez’s The Art of Disappearing, a heartbreaking and mysterious novel about a popular girl who starts to lose it all when she learns she may be psychic. Both NOOK Books are available for purchase for $3.99 beginning today.”
A spokesperson for B&N sent the following explanation of the company’s motivation to encourage digital reading among a younger demographic, especially at a time when access to books by teenagers is coming under attack by schools and communities.
“Barnes & Noble is excited to make these Alloy Entertainment titles available to our millions of customers. We strive to provide readers of all ages – including young adult readers – access to more of the content they want, and the ability to enjoy it on our award-winning digital reading platform. We are committed to continually working with all publishers to provide a robust selection of titles to our customers. The young adult genre is very popular with our customers, and as publishers continue to make more of these titles available, we will make them available to our young adult NOOK customers.”
B&N is also hosting a sweepstakes allowing readers to win a NOOK Tablet, another measure that can hopefully put e-reading capability into the hands of up-and-coming consumers, especially in time for back to school preparations.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
