Penguin Books UK has launched an ‘online book community’ for teenagers. Spinebreakers features interviews, articles, podcasts, reviews, fiction, poems and prizes, and its contributors, aged 13-18, write, edit and manage its content. The core group of editors have participated in a four-week internship with a UK teen marketing firm, and work with journalists, editors, authors and web designers.
So far, Spinebreakers looks pretty good. The graphics are savvy, and the site looks easy to use. Early interviews are with Nick Hornby, UK indie band GoodBooks, and Nicholas Hoult, star of UK teen drama Skins – an important acknowledgement of the merging of different mediums in popular culture. And one of the main facets of the site is reader-input; contributors are encouraged to re-write the endings they hated, and design their own covers for their favourite books. It’s early days so far, but Spinebreakers could turn out to be a great online community for teenage readers.
Penguin’s Media Release for the site
