Scribd, HarperCollins offer e-book subscriptions
Online document-sharing site Scribd is taking a page from Netflix's success story as it sets out to create the world's largest subscription service for digital books.
The opening chapter in Scribd's quest begins Tuesday with the introduction of an e-book subscription service that will boast thousands of titles published by HarperCollins before July 2012.
HarperCollins, which is owned by News Corp., becomes the first of the five largest U.S. publishers to sign on to the service.
Scribd will charge $9 per month for a service that will provide unlimited access to most of HarperCollins' back catalog, as well as an assortment of other books from smaller publishers.
Scribd is trying to create the book industry's version of Netflix Inc.'s online video service, which boasts 37 million subscribers.
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