Zola Books
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
Some sections are still being researched2 / 4
Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Zola Books was a New York-based social ebook retailer founded in 2012 by literary agents Joe Regal and Michael Strong. It combined an ebook store with a social network and a recommendation engine, aiming to be a one-stop destination for book lovers with exclusive DRM-free titles, agency-model pricing controlled by authors and publishers, and programs letting independent bookstores sell ebooks to their own customers.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Launched
Zola Books launched its private beta in June 2012, having raised $1 million in seed funding from prominent authors including Audrey Niffenegger, Josh Bazell, and Chandler Burr, with former Life editor Bill Shapiro joining as head of innovation and strategy.
- Acquired Bookish
In January 2014 Zola Books acquired Bookish, a book-recommendation site launched by Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Penguin, for an undisclosed price, chiefly to obtain its recommendation-engine technology.
- The Everywhere Store
The company launched 'The Everywhere Store,' its own e-commerce widget, in October 2015. No reliable public record of the company's subsequent wind-down or exit exists.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.