Scribd, the world's largest social publishing company, today announced that it has signed a deal with Harvard University Press (HUP) to sell nearly 1,000 digital books through the Scribd Store, a recently launched e-commerce marketplace for written works. HUP joins other university presses such as New York University Press and MIT Press that are already offering free previews of books and reports to Scribd's readership of millions. The Harvard announcement comes a month after the company announced a similar deal with publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster.
"Scribd's goal is to collect all the world's written information -- whether for free or for purchase -- in one place and then make those works available to as many people as possible," said Trip Adler, CEO and co-founder of Scribd and a Harvard alum. "Harvard University Press has brought to light some of the world's most thought-provoking ideas in the form of printed books. We are thrilled to bring this amazing content to a much larger potential community of information seekers."
Examples of the variety of books and reports currently available through university presses and schools on Scribd include:
-- The Boy Who Would be a Helicopter (HUP)
-- The Civic Potential of Video Games (MIT Press)
-- Hooking Up: The Campus as a Sexual Arena (NYU Press)
-- McGill University Daily News Magazine (McGill University)
-- Bethel Regional Jr. High School paper (Bethel Jr. High)
"Our goal is to get our books in front of as many people as possible; Scribd helps us reach readers who prefer to read online and on digital devices," said Daniel Lee, director of digital content at Harvard University Press.
The majority of content available on Scribd includes original works -- such as short stories, research reports and recipes -- contributed by its community. Professional publishers offering free and for-purchase books and other written works include Simon & Schuster, O'Reilly, Berrett-Koehler, Lonely Planet, and The World Bank. Books offered by HUP are available immediately on Scribd and can be found through searches in the Scribd Store or by keyword, title, author or other identifyers. A sampling of HUP books can be found for a limited time at www.scribd.com/store.
