Welcome to the first post in the #ReadingRoomsProGuide blog series. 

In this series, we’ll walk you through the extra features included in Reading Rooms Pro — the paid service of the book marketing platform Reading Rooms for Books. 

Today we’re kicking things off by showcasing how publishers can curate fully-searchable virtual book collections to benefit the promotion and publicity of their titles.

What are Virtual Book Collections?

Virtual book collections are a way to display multiple books side by side, each with their own individual shop link attached. They are:

  1. Flexible, allowing publishers to choose whether they want to provide readers with full or partial access to books.
  2. Time-limited, the links or QR codes will only provide users with access to collections for a period of time chosen by the publisher (one hour, one day, one week, 30 days, or one year).
  3. Fully-seachable across the whole collection, sub-collection (shelf), or an individual title.
  4. A more sustainable and cost-efficient way to promote and distribute content than packaging and shipping print books.

Preview Collection

e.g. View the Carcanet Caribbean Collection (this preview collection link will expire on 1st March) here.

Full Access Collection

e.g. View the Open Access Books Collection (this full access collection link will expire on 1st March) here.

Collection Organised into Shelves

e.g. View the Carcanet 2022 by Month (this preview collection will expire on 1st March) here.

Examples of Publishers Using Virtual Book Collections

Publisher Spotlight: Edinburgh University Press

Edinburgh University Press expanding their reach beyond their physical presence at the American Political Science Association 2022 by promoting a virtual collection to featured books on social media.

Publisher Spotlight: Hackett Publishing

Hackett Publishing using QR codes to virtual collections of featured books in their physical stand and conference marketing materials.

Publisher Spotlight: Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press putting together virtual book collections to promote ‘COP27’ and ‘Borders and Migration’ reading lists on their blog.

Please get in touch at publisher@exacteditions.com for more information about Reading Rooms Pro pricing.

Or, start using the free service (ISBN Reading Rooms) to create book preview links by signing up here: publisher.exacteditions.com/readingroomsforbooks