Soho Press Unveils Redesigned Website

With an eye toward direct to consumer digital sales and a new subscription offering, the Manhattan-basedSoho Press has completed a comprehensive redesign of their website.

The new site's design was headed up by Kevin Murphy who came aboard as Soho's Digital Media Manager in June. Murphy, formerly the publisher at Dark Sky Books, worked with the award-winning design firm Fuzzco (Charleston, SC) to build the site.

"Kevin and Fuzzco did a wonderful job. A new website has been at the top of my list since coming aboard last year," said Paul Oliver, Soho's Director of Marketing & Publicity. "We set the goal of creating a single platform that is flexible enough to showcase Soho's three distinct imprints, while also developing a direct to consumer business. I think they did more than that."

One of the distinct features on the new website is an interactive map of Soho Crime's substantial list of internationally set crime fiction. The detailed map displays each Soho Crime series or stand-alone book's location, including instances where authors have multiple series. Tough calls come when picking a location for globetrotting titles, like David Downing's upcoming historical spy thriller, "Jack of Spies".

"We really wanted to create something for every type of user," Kevin Murphy said. "That goes for readers, booksellers, librarians, and media professionals alike."

The decision to offer readers the ability to purchase ebooks directly was made in light of the changing digital marketplace. "Purchasing from Soho has its advantages," Murphy added. "Individual titles are sold for 30% off the retail price, and ebook series bundles are available exclusively through our website. We also have two book-of-the-month subscriptions, one for Soho Teen and one for Soho Crime, which offer special deals and merchandise to subscribers."

Bronwen Hruska, Soho's Publisher, made it clear that the site was not going to have an effect on the house's support and interest in the brick and mortar ecosystem.

"We will continue to maintain a strong presence in traditional retail markets and libraries, supporting our books there any way we can," said Hruska. "We will always continue to print galleys for trade shows, mail books to booksellers and librarians, and regularly tour our authors."

"More than anything," Hruska added, "I see the new site as a considerable upgrade from an author services standpoint."

Among those author service upgrades are enhanced book, series, and author pages; resources for booksellers and librarians; reading guides; and events pages. A good example of an enhanced book page is the one for authorColin McAdam's "A Beautiful Truth", which has a digital media kit that will prove useful for media and readers alike.

"More and more you are your website," Paul Oliver added. "That goes for whether you're talking about a bookstore, a library, or a publishing house. We think we now have one that reflects who we are."

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