Cliffs Notes aren’t just for students anymore

The WSJ’S Emily Ann Brown looks at a growing trend among readers to find easy ways to summarize those oh-so-difficult books they’d like to read, but just don’t have the time to absorb fully:

Summaries, mostly sent by email, generally range between eight and 12 pages, and some publishers see them as a threat to sales. (A service can’t summarize a book without its publisher’s permission.) However, most major houses have agreed to work with the services, providing free books in hopes that the added exposure the services provide might lead to sales.

Reader services are increasingly taking a place alongside the traditional newspaper and magazine book review to alert readers to new titles, industry officials say. Book summaries “level the playing field for a book fighting for space on a table at Barnes & Noble,” says Bill Smith, a domestic rights manager at The Perseus Books Group, based in New York.

The most popular sites cater to specific groups such as business executives, political wonks, self-help enthusiasts and evangelical Christians. Christian Book Summaries, an evangelical reader service based in Colorado Springs, Colo., offers its summaries free of charge. Launched in 2000, the service now boasts 2,880 readers who regularly visit its Web site to view its biweekly postings.

Even though my book-buying soul blanches at such a trend, it has enabled folks like Major John Moore to cut down on his book buying, as last year, he has saved hundreds of dollars by purchasing just three books after reading more than 50 book summaries, he says. “My wife would go crazy if I went out and bought all those books.”

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.