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"By hook or by crook, the publishing industry is aiming to tap into the burgeoning mobile market any way that it can. \nThis morning, Random House Publishing Group announced that it has collaborated with Mobile Roadie to launch a trio of free iPhone apps that will serve to hook up fans with three of their fave RH authors: Steve Barry [iTunes Link], Sophie Kinsella [iTunes Link] and Karen Marie Moning [iTunes Link].\nAccording to Random House representatives, the apps will allow authors to promote and sell their books, notify fans about tours and store appearances and \"engage fans on a personal level\" \u2014 meaning readers will have access to book previews, bonus content, interactions with other book lovers, audiobook clips, videos and book trailers. \nComing on the heels of magazine apps (like Esquire's) and the great eReader battle of 2009, the move by Random House to engage its readers on a digital plane once more points to the print industry's desire to remain relevant in a world that is becoming more and more pixelated. \nIt also asks something of authors that was previously not part of the job description: It asks them to become technologically savvy and to take promotion into their own hands. In fact, Mobile Roadie offers its own DIY app maker, which seems pretty easy to use (I didn't get too far in the process, seeing as how there was a fee). And in an industry where a lot of book promotion is about the hustle, we could easily see authors benefiting from such technology \u2014 even writers who may not be as Internet-savvy as others.\nSo what do you think, readers? Do author iPhone apps spell the end of the printed page? Or are they just another method of spreading the word?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/12/21/keep-up-with-your-fave-random-house-author-on-your-iphone/>