HarperCollins has just unveiled a new website and community aimed at teens called Epic Reads. It seeks to connect authors and readers together who all have a strong love for YA Fiction, such as dystopian and paranormal fiction.
Epic Reads features a ton of YA content from notable authors such as Veronica Roth, Lauren Conrad, and Garth Nix. You can purchase books on the website from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-million, and iBooks. Epic Reads allows user comments, so you can get a sense of what the community is preferring, before you buy it. There are even videos uploaded by the authors during book signings and talking about their book, thereby building a stronger connection with the audience.
There are many community aspects to this website, such as channels and polls. Users can chat with each other about various literary genres and talk about books they want to read or are in the process of reading. There is also a large forum that just launched, but there is not much action there yet.
There is no denying that Young Adult fiction is one of the most popular niches online. HarperCollins has done a savvy move by promoting their authors and maintaining a strong social aspect.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
