As a web producer and digital product manager I've been involved in several interesting projects, some with employers, some independently created. A handful of recent highlights follows below.

authonomy.com

authonomy is a niche community site for writers, readers and publishers. A complex and exciting project, incorporating elements of crowd sourcing, community management, moderation and reputation systems, authonomy now receives millions of pageviews each month. You can here more about this project in these two radio interviews.

I was part of a small team that conceived and developed authonomy at HarperCollins Publishers in London. Launched in 2008, the talent-spotting site kick-started the careers of several debut authors, and in 2010 won the British Book Industry Award for Innovation.

January 1, 2009 | Filed Under Web Projects | 1 Comment 

Nintendo DS 100 Classic Book Collection

An enjoyable and unusual project, this one. In 2008, at HarperCollins, we worked with Nintendo to create 100 Classic Book Collection, the first ebooks produced for a hand held games console. Nintendo created faithful digital facsimiles of our Collins Classics range, which were published between the 1920s and 1980s; we also commissioned a range of new material to complement each of the books.

100 Classic Book Collection sold several hundred thousand copies in the UK and Australia; in 2010 it was updated and re-released in the United States as 100 Classic Books, where it enjoyed similar success.

December 1, 2008 | Filed Under Web Projects | Leave a Comment 

bookarmy.com

BookArmy was a community, recommendation and reviews site for book-lovers worldwide. Similiar in nature to Goodreads and LibraryThing, BookArmy gave readers a place to discuss books, recommend great reads and engage with favourite authors. Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger described it as a “digital disrupter”, covering its niche “with conviction, range, depth and passion.”

I managed Bookarmy from February 2009, when my employer HarperCollins took a large stake in the start-up, until June 2010 when I left the company. The site was shuttered in 2011.

December 1, 2008 | Filed Under Web Projects | 2 Comments