New launch: Book publishing 2.0

Wow, this looks interesting. A new social media platform called Crink or “Creative Ink” has just launched, enabling amateur, budding and experienced authors to publish, sell, buy and market their books online. It allows authors to create social networks, personalised online shops, groups and forums around their interest areas and books.

Customers can order books from an author’s personalised online shop and have a copy of the book delivered to their doorsteps, bound and printed. For example, family histories could be captured in a published book or budding ornithologists could write a personalised bird book from their very unique perspective. Crink’s offering is “on-demand-publishing” so orders as low as one book can be placed at a time.

Rhode Odendaal, the MD of Crink says that “everyone has a book inside them” and that this platform now allows them to publish it professionally. The Crink Social Media Platform was specced by Kate Elphick at Digital Bridges and built by Luuk ICT. It is a Media24 initiative.

Crink platform is mostly automated. It’s managed by an avatar called “Jessica Maverick” who guides the authors when they need assistance. The success of publications is determined by the involvement of authors who manage their own titles and marketing.

I’ve had a cursory look at it and I like what I see. Would be nice to see some reviews of it from people who have signed up and used it extensively?

Nice to see some local innovation.