Hachette Book Group is partnering with Gumroad, an e-commerce platform, to turn microblogging site Twitter into a bookstore.
The book publisher is hopeful that it will not only be able to promote books via Twitter, but also use the platform to retail books directly. Hachette announced its tie-up with Gumroad on Dec. 8, which will help Twitter users buy print editions of specific books by clicking on the buy button available on an author's tweet.
"We're incredibly excited to welcome Hachette and their authors to Gumroad. We've been really impressed by Hachette's commitment to exploring new opportunities for their authors to make money and engage directly with readers through social commerce. They don't shy away from new technology-they're genuinely committed to exploring what the future of publishing looks like," revealed Sahil Lavingia, founder and CEO of Gumroad.
Gumroad enables the sale of a creator's products directly to social media followers. This can be achieved without exiting Twitter's platform. Hachette will become the first book publisher to use Twitter for retail.
The books will be sold at their list price and Gumroad will charge a transaction fee for every purchase. The exact specifics of the transaction fee was not disclosed by Hachette
In partnership with Gumroad, Hachette will be retailing books by Chris Hadfield (You are Here), Amanda Palmer (The Art of Asking) and "The Onion Magazine: The Iconic Covers That Transformed an Undeserving World" on Twitter. Consumers can purchase these titles using the buy button. The books purchased via Twitter will also come with limited-edition souvenirs, such as a signed manuscript page by Amanda Palmer or an autographed picture of Corfu by Hadfield.
Hachette is hoping to cash in on the over 1 million followers that selected authors have and take advantage of their fan following to boost the book sales.
"As an obsessive experimenter with a tightknit army in the digital battlefield, I see platforms like Gumroad as real allies to all sorts of creators who need help sharing and selling their digital work," Palmer said. "I'm really excited to see how my growing reader community responds to this kind of sharing."
The promotions are set to begin on Dec. 11. The books will be available in limited numbers, but the publisher intends to expand the number of titles available.
