Lovereading's new owners pump six-figure sum into site's overhaul

Lovereading’s new owners are set to unveil a new website in March, featuring a new review platform and partnership with Audible after pouring “hundreds of thousands of pounds” into the revamp.

The book recommendation site's assets were jointly bought by Huddersfield-based magazine publisher Gavin Pearson and website specialist Robert Prime in in August for an undisclosed sum. The company had sought a new buyer in May but went into administration in June.

Prime told The Bookseller that the redevelopment of Lovereading, which was first created 12 years ago, has cost “hundreds of thousands of pounds”. The owners are preparing to unveil a raft of new changes to it in the coming weeks and have hired 10 new people to help with the expansion.

Since August, Pearson and Prime have surveyed around 1,500 of Lovereading’s members and gone through the site “piece by piece” to “streamline” and enhance it, including making it mobile-friendly, they said. Now they are enhancing the review section on the portal, developing an audiobook section as part of a deal with Audible, creating a “content hub” for publishers and offering a price comparison tool for books. They also plan to work with schools to engage pupils with the website.

Prime wants to keep issues around literacy and love of books central to the company while updating and improving the website. He said: “It’s important that we keep our mission, to promote literacy and encourage a love of reading by offering the tools, advice and information needed to help our users find their next favourite book.

“This remains at the core of what we do, but the new management team has an abundance of expertise that complements the established team of editorial experts and enables us to take the brand to the next stage with a roster of added functionality, enhanced content, commercial opportunities and brand new websites on the cards.”

Prime and Pearson have expanded the team of employees working on Lovereading. After keeping on four, including one of the founders, Louise Weir, they have hired another 10 people to work on editorial content, sales, marketing, and website creation.

A deal with Audible means the company will now also feature a large section on audiobooks, linking directly to the company’s top titles. The partnership will also mean that Lovereading members get two free months of downloads with the audio company.

However Prime told The Bookseller he is most excited about the new review section as it will “be the most important source of income for the site”.

He said: “We have started a big review platform similar to NetGalley. It will be cheaper [for authors to be reviewed] and the pilot will start in February, starting with self-published authors and rolling out to all others, with plans to syndicate reviews.”

The review section will feature more than 4,000 reviewers and will allow them to read an excerpt of an author's work before deciding to review. They also hoping to establish an awards programme for reviewers.

He also wants to work more closely with publishing companies and “major book bodies” to expand the company’s offering.

“Publishers are very interested in the redevelopment of the site”, Prime said, “but they want to see the next stage.” Prime and his colleagues are currently trying to quantify what they can offer publishers who join the site. They are also developing a content hub for publishers, to aggregate a lot of the web content and blogs which publishers produce but which “they want a wider audience for”.

Many of the talks with publishers and organisers have also focused on potential partnership working on literacy and education.  The lovereading team is engaging with schools about partnering on a project where pupils’ reviews can be uploaded onto the site, with Prime saying he is “passionate about getting kids engaged with reviewing books”. They are also working with an expert on Special Educational Needs (SEN) because there seems to be a “gap in the market” for engaging children with SEN in reading, he said.

Although the revamp has been “eating away at the bank balance” Prime said he has been encouraged by the supportive feedback the team has received from the book trade since taking over Lovereading. “People were pleased when it came back online, people have a lot of good memories of it,” he said.

Formed in 2005 to "capitalise on emerging digital technologies", the company was originally funded by board members and their families. It aimed to help publishers connect directly with book lovers and was lead by director and co-founder Peter Crawshaw.

However it incurred losses year-on-year to the point of accumulated losses of £257,000 in 2013. Marginal profits then began to reduce the losses and in June 2017 IRL was appointed as an administrator for the website, two months before it was bought by Prime and Pearson.

Anyone interested in working with Lovereading should email rob@lovereading.co.uk">rob@lovereading.co.uk.