Thousands of Sub-Category Pages Also Deployed Providing a Unique Organization of Authors, Contributors and Their Books
Nashville, Tenn., January 25, 2010 – FiledBy (www.filedby.com), the leading online directory of authors, writers, illustrators, photographers, editors, translators and other book contributors, today announced a significant expansion of its online platform into fifty main category websites (http://www.filedby.com/categories/), which include more than three thousand sub-categories organized by the book industry BISAC code structure. Information about authors, contributors and books published or imported into North America has been indexed, linked together and organized into the new category sites for easy search and discovery. This first-time-ever organization of authors by the categories in which they publish will facilitate a wide range of connections among authors and their readers.
FiledBy’s innovative category sites now provide a vertical view of authors and their work and further organize the activity of authors into the categories in which they publish. The new websites aggregate activity taking place on individual FiledBy author sites according to relevant categories and display the activity as authors and their collaborators customize their online presence with photographs, biographies, videos, podcasts, documents and links to other locations like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and custom author websites. Authors and contributors can locate their work, register with FiledBy, claim a pre-assembled website that already includes all of an author’s work and build an effective online marketing platform with easy to use tools. And now that the aggregation of author-related activity is arranged by subject category, FiledBy becomes an even more compelling place for an author to bring and share audiences.
“We launched FiledBy nine months ago based on the vision that discoverability of books and authors has changed forever due to the impact of the Internet and search,” said Peter Clifton, co-founder and CEO of FiledBy. “We wanted to provide tools that authors and their creative partners could use to easily collect and present authoritative information about themselves and focus on their overall social marketing efforts. To accomplish this, we had to first organize a vast amount of information around the people who create books, rather than simply display the books themselves. Now that information is also available through our category websites.”
“Being able to control, customize and extend this information easily is of increasing value to authors, their collaborative partners and publishers in a world where search dominates discovery and the delivery of digital content intersects with existing information about print books,” said Clifton.
The new FiledBy category websites provide vertical context to authors and their work and provide a foundation on which vertically integrated social marketing and communities can form and grow. The category sites showcase authors as they sign on, highlight popular books and featured authors as well as displaying other author content, including new videos, podcast and documents. Consumer readers can also join FiledBy and build custom bookshelves and author lists on a personal FiledBy website. Readers can ‘friend’ other readers, join author communities, start or join groups and receive email alerts when a favorite author makes changes or updates to their FiledBy site. People who browse the site can now more easily discover authors and books according to the categories in which they have interest, as well as build communities, form groups, share reviews and connect with authors.
Sample Category Sites:
Since launch in April 2009, more than 6,200 authors, illustrators, photographers and other contributors have registered and claimed their FiledBy website. Many authors are now using FiledBy as their primary website because the tools provided are author centric. They can easily add media without the help of a webmaster, and ongoing updates and customizations can be made quickly, easily and from anywhere.
“FiledBy offers authors the tools and services they need to share information and content with readers as well as a solution to the challenges most have when trying to market themselves online today,” said Clifton. “Authors and publishers will now be able to market within these vertical portals, ensuring that they are reaching the right audience and, in turn, selling more books.”
Mike Shatzkin, Founder & CEO of The Idea Logical Company, Inc. and co-founder of FiledBy commented, “I have long preached that verticality will be the hallmark of 21st century publishing. I am delighted that FiledBy’s pioneering data organization work has enabled them to facilitate the connection of authors and readers by topic. This will be of increasing value to publishers, authors, readers, and to the communities of interest that are forming everywhere as digital development proceeds and the industry continues to change.”
