E-book/print bundling venture from Verso

Verso Books is launching a new consumer offer, bundling DRM-free e-books with all print purchases made through its website.

The radical publisher will offer a free e-book version "for all new ttiles and hundreds of recent ones" with every hard copy purchased, with free postage worldwide. The watermarked e-books will be saved in an e-book library on the Verso site, allowing the user to re-download the title to any device.

The "social DRM" watermarking technology has been developed with Booxtream, along with software developers Fastest Crayon, while Verso has also worked with distributors Random House in the US and Marston Book Services in the UK.

Verso's m.d. Jacob Stevens said he expected the new offer on the Verso website to contribute £200,000 to the publisher's revenue in its first year.

He said: "Verso has found a new, radical way of selling books—for the first time, our readers can choose which title to read regardless of format, print or digital. We know that our core readership would like to support radical publishing directly, and we hope that this new approach will benefit our writers, readers, and colleagues across the industry. We look forward to directly connecting with many more of our already fantastically engaged readership, and to building new partnerships with innovative publishers, websites and developers."

The new system will launch on 8th April. The Verso website currently receives  65,000 unique visitors a month.