Indigo + iUniverse = Pay for Play

Indigo Books & Music, the retail chain that pretty much owns every big box bookstore in Canada, has hooked up with iUniverse to feature books by self-published Canadian authors in a special display for 60 days or “longer if the book keeps selling,” the company said. As the Book Standard reports, books from iUniverse are eligible to be featured if they are published through the company’s Premier Plus package and have been given the iUniverse Publisher’s Choice label, a designation bestowed on books that have essential qualities of a professionally published book and meet key cover design standards. They will be featured in Indigo Books & Music, Coles and Chapters stores. Currently, iUniverse, an affiliate of Barnes & Noble, already features books in the same manner in Barnes & Noble stores in the U.S.

In other words, the more the author pays, the better placement he or she gets. Which isn’t that dissimilar from how mainstream publishers operate with co-op for selected titles…

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.