It’s like Netflix, only it’s books

August 23, 2007

Do you think the price of books has grown prohibitive? Is $25 or $30 too much for the latest James Patterson or Dan Brown thriller?

BookSwim.com, a Web site now in beta, hopes there are plenty of people who feel that way. The company is looking to take the Netflix model of movie rentals and apply it to the world of books. Subscribers can rent books, keep them as long as they want, and return them as often as their plan allows.

Like Netflix, users line books up in queue for shipping depending on the plan. Also like Netflix, there is no charge to ship or return the books. The site says it has more than 150,000 titles in its library.

Plans start at $19.99 per month for the company’s three-at-a-time option. As an example of what they have, BookSwim’s top rentals are:

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
2. Nineteen Minutes: A novel
3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
4. Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl’s Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me?
5. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: A Novel

Bookswim might just be on to something. The site was pretty much shut down Wednesday afternoon due largely to high traffic in the wake of blog and media attention like a mention on Lifehacker.com and a write-up at C/net’s Webware site.

—BEN MOOK, Assistant Business Editor

Comments

• 
  

• Law

  • Fabian’s not-so-happy New Year
  • This week in Maryland Lawyer
  • A bit of confusion over in-flight births
  • Think before you tweet, lawyers warn
  • A New Year’s Resolution worth keeping

• Business

  • Outlook isn't looking up for CEG stock
  • The year of Pat Turner
  • Fraser Smith brings his column to The Daily Record
  • Whose best practices would you subscribe to?

• 

• Archives

  Select Month January 2009  (4) December 2008  (82) November 2008  (74) October 2008  (90) September 2008  (75) August 2008  (85) July 2008  (94) June 2008  (102) May 2008  (100) April 2008  (90) March 2008  (68) February 2008  (74) January 2008  (79) December 2007  (80) November 2007  (78) October 2007  (90) September 2007  (60) August 2007  (72)

• Visit Eye on Annapolis

  Check out our blog on the legislative session, Eye on Annapolis.

• Categories

  Select Category 4th Circuit  (8) 6th Circuit  (2) aba  (1) advertising  (12) alcohol  (8) annapolis  (8) attorney general  (5) attorney grievance commission  (3) Ballard Spahr  (2) Baltimore  (134) baltimore county  (17) baltimore sun  (10) bankruptcy  (2) baseball  (8) Billy Murphy  (2) BRAC  (5) business  (551)    energy  (28) BWI airport  (4) cars  (10) charity  (4) college  (1) commute  (3) Constellation Energy  (8) construction  (4) copyright  (2) court of appeals  (24) court of special appeals  (9) crime  (15) d.c.  (2) D.C. Circuit  (1) Dale Cathell  (1) death penalty  (4) development  (9) disclosure  (1) discovery communications  (5) district court  (3) DLA Piper  (6) DNA  (4) Eastern Shore  (5) economy  (21) education  (13) ehrlich  (1) election  (1) entertainment  (12) environment  (25) estate planning  (2) executive compensation  (2) expert testimony  (1) Federal Hill  (1) fifth amendment  (1) film  (3) finance  (13) first amendment  (2) food  (14) foreclosure  (1) foreclosures  (7) frederick  (4) gambling  (5) general assembly  (1) golf  (11) government  (89) guns  (2) harbor east  (1) harford county  (1) hate crime  (1) health  (45) health care  (2) hilton  (1) holidays  (19) Honest Tea  (4) horses  (1) hotels  (4) howard county  (8) immigration  (3) internet  (6) iPhone  (1) johns hopkins  (12) judges  (4) jurors  (3) law  (585) law school  (11) Legg Mason  (2) libel  (1) living wage  (1) Loyola  (4) marketing  (17) Marriott  (3) Martin O’Malley  (3) maryland  (85) maryland lawyer  (10) Maryland Stadium Authority  (1) maryland state lottery  (1) media  (3) michael phelps  (3) Miles & Stockbridge  (1) military  (5) minorities  (1) money  (9) montgomery county  (27) mortgage  (1) Mount St. Mary’s  (1) MSBA  (3) multimedia  (24) music  (2) national harbor  (1) newspapers  (3) nonprofit  (3) obama  (5) Olympics  (1) Orioles  (18) Pat Turner  (1) Perdue Farms  (1) peter angelos  (2) pets  (15) Philadelphia  (2) photography  (1) politics  (47) port  (1) prince george’s county  (3) PSC  (1) public relations  (4) radio  (3) Ravens  (25) real estate  (54) recession  (2) recruiting  (3) regulation  (2) religion  (5) restaurants  (9) retail  (9) Rupert Murdoch  (2) salaries  (7) salisbury  (1) same-sex marriage  (2) settlement  (1) sheila dixon  (3) slots  (7) small business  (3) smoking  (3) smoking ban  (3) social networking  (1) sparrows point  (1) sports  (85) starbucks  (1) state fair  (1) stem cells  (1) steroids  (3) stocks  (2) Supreme Court  (27) surveys  (1) T. Rowe Price  (1) taxes  (27) technology  (47) the arts  (1) The Daily Record  (1) The Wire  (9) tourism  (9) Towson  (3) Towson University  (3) trademark  (1) training  (2) transit  (7) travel  (1) u.s. district court  (1) Uncategorized  (75) UnderArmour  (11) University of Baltimore  (9) university of maryland  (21) university of maryland-baltimore  (4) Venable  (3) Villa Julie  (3) virginia  (5) Wall Street Journal  (5) washington  (9) washington post  (3) Westboro Baptist Church  (2) wildlife  (4) women  (2) work  (13)