 | |
Type of site | Content discovery, eCommerce |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founded | 2011 (2011) |
| Headquarters | New York City,United States |
| Key people | Ardy Khazaei (CEO), Chris Sim (CTO) |
| URL | www.bookish.com |
| Advertising | Web banners |
| Launched | February 2013 |
Bookish.com is acontent discovery andecommerce website, which launched in February 2013, devoted tobooks. The site allows users to browse an extensivedatabase of books andauthors, add books to user-created digital "shelves", get custom book recommendations, read editorial content and purchase physical books,ebooks, andaudiobooks.[1]
Bookish was founded in 2011 in ajoint venture backed by three of thebig sixpublishing companies –Hachette Book Group,Penguin Group (USA), andSimon & Schuster[2] – with the goal of increasing the presence of book publishers in the book-buying industry (which was becoming increasingly dominated byAmazon.com due to the increased popularity of online bookstores), as well as to expand the overall book-buying market.
The site was expected to launch in the summer of 2011, but the launch was delayed due to technical issues relating to data compilation,[3] as well as a lawsuit filed by theUnited States Department of Justice in 2012 againstApple Inc. and five major publishing companies regarding the pricing of ebooks.[4] The site officially launched in February 2013 with the support of sixteen additional publishing companies.[5]
In early 2014, online ebookretailerZola Books, attracted by the site's sophisticated “algorithmic software” that offers reading suggestions, acquired Bookish.[7]