From Publishers Weekly:
CarverTech, a technology management and consultant firm, has launched skBookshop.com, an easy-to-use web service that allows publishers to offer their book catalog through Facebook and as an app on mobile phones. The service allows publishers to quickly create free promotions and e-book giveaways on Facebook in addition to tracking a wide range of specific analytical data, from e-mail addresses and downloads to “Likes” and new users.
SkBookshop offers publishers a turnkey service that allows them to circulate their list of e-books on Facebook, which currently has about 900 million users, about half of whom access it using mobile phones. But skBookshop.com also allows publishers to quickly and inexpensively create an app for mobile devices—only Android at present with Apple’s iOS in development for later in 2012, according to Justin Loeber of CarverTech.While Loeber was quick to point out that the Facebook service as well as the mobile apps do not allow the publishers to sell directly to consumers, the services make it very easy to offer free e-book giveaways and track consumer participation in them. “There’s no selling through the services, right now,” Loeber said in a phone interview, “platforms like Facebook and mobile phones change so much and are so fluid its hard to keep the coding up to date.”The service charges a one-time startup fee ($45 for Facebook; $60 for Android) and a monthly subscription fee that varies based on the number of title of the pubisher wishes to list: up to 500 titles, $29.95/month for Facebook; $24.95/month for Android; up to 1000 titles, $44.95/month for Facebook; $34.95/month for Android).
More in the article. Thanks to Michael von Glahn for the link.
