HarperCollins have been focusing more recently on ebooks. And, as a next pivotal step they have unleashed the OpenBooks API to provide access for everyone to take ownership in creativity to author their own books as well as build interesting mashups. Although, still in beta it is provided as both Data API and Content API making it very much a flexible in the scope of future functionality. Perhaps, an added bonus here could be the use of OData services as well as Semantic Web. Maybe, even exposing metadata annotations and linking through more articulated eReaders. There is even scope here for providing a JSONLD format for graphical linked data of concepts and relations of stories. Another, creative step the project could take, is towards building out a collaboration platform for shared story creation as an access point for editors, writers, readers, and publishers. An intelligent editor assistant would be quite valuable in this respect to guide writers into specific story structure, plot lines, appropriate character building, and even creative endings. In such manner, the intelligent assistant could be taught to learn the patterns of successful stories and guide the proliferation of new story structures with adaptive editing. Often, the start to a story could involve a deep brainstorming session itself for which intelligent agents could provide much guided support. Collaborative filtering for recommendations could be yet another way for which writers, readers and publishers could endeavor towards successful story development. Publishing companies also can benefit from sentiment analysis in understanding the moving trends of reader interests over the web but also to understand reader opinions on their products as well as brands. Such analysis could also help for market engagement towards connecting more socially with the reading community to not only increase interest in books but also to provide a point of knowledge about consumer intents. Furthermore, the web in all its social forms could provide for a focal view for predictive analytics on the success of a particular book.
