What happened to girlebooks.com?

issybird · 10-07-2017, 03:04 PM

Girlebooks was live as recently as August when I linked to it during book club nominations, but it's clearly defunct now and I haven't been able to find out what happened, although the inference is obvious.

It seems a shame. For those who didn't know it, it was a very well curated and presented library of books mostly by women authors, in a combination of public domain and books for sale. Where it really shone, in my opinion, was with lesser-known public domain gems, but that doesn't pay the bills.

Another one bites the dust and it's not surprising, but I wondered if anyone here had the scoop on its demise.

HarryT · 10-07-2017, 03:45 PM

The last snapshot of the site by Internet Archive's "Wayback Machine" is July 13th.

HarryT · 10-07-2017, 04:25 PM

Are you sure it is defunct? I get the message "Error establishing a database connection", which could simply mean a temporary glitch.

issybird · 10-08-2017, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Are you sure it is defunct? I get the message "Error establishing a database connection", which could simply mean a temporary glitch.

It's been like that for a couple of weeks at least; originally I was hopeful.

MR member khalleron listed her books there; presumably she knows what's happened and if she sees this, might respond.

HarryT · 10-08-2017, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

It's been like that for a couple of weeks at least; originally I was hopeful.

Hmmm. That is a bad sign, I agree.

latepaul · 10-08-2017, 12:43 PM

The "Contact" page on the archive page lists "info at girlebooks dot com" as an email address. Might be worth dropping them a line.

khalleron · 10-11-2017, 07:35 PM

No, I don't know what happened, Laura and I have had little contact since I decided to list my books for free. She wasn't making enough money from the publishing side to justify the bookkeeping (I myself made a total of $12, so I can see her point).

She blogged awhile back that the site would no longer be updated - her RL had just become too busy with other things. I'm guessing she let the domain registration lag or something of that sort since it was no longer a source of income.

I'm using Draft2Digital to get my books on other sites, but no longer for free.

Guess I better change my signature line.

issybird · 10-11-2017, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khalleron

No, I don't know what happened, Laura and I have had little contact since I decided to list my books for free. She wasn't making enough money from the publishing side to justify the bookkeeping (I myself made a total of $12, so I can see her point).

She blogged awhile back that the site would no longer be updated - her RL had just become too busy with other things. I'm guessing she let the domain registration lag or something of that sort since it was no longer a source of income.

I'm using Draft2Digital to get my books on other sites, but no longer for free.

Guess I better change my signature line.

Thanks for the intel, Kate. It's too bad; girlebooks was my favorite boutique ebook site.

BookCat · 10-12-2017, 06:58 AM

This is a shame, I loved the descriptive blurbs of the public domain books and the different ways they could be organised.

I'm sure they could have raised money through carrying advertising on the site, or asking for donations. How does Project Gutenberg keep going? Or MR, for that matter?

Some news pages that I read detect that I have an adblocker (mainly for youtube) and demand that I disable it in order to read them. It's permanently disabled for those pages. Some other sites do the same. Girliebooks could have done this in order to attract advertising.

Hindsight's a wonderful thing. Oh well, there's still the less-pretty MR library ... for now!

dandelioncottage · 10-24-2017, 10:33 AM

Girlebooks seems to be active again.

khalleron · 10-24-2017, 07:48 PM

Oh, good!

BookCat · 10-24-2017, 09:57 PM

This is brilliant news!!

10-07-2017, 03:04 PM	#1
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,298 Karma: 234636059 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	What happened to girlebooks.com? Girlebooks was live as recently as August when I linked to it during book club nominations, but it's clearly defunct now and I haven't been able to find out what happened, although the inference is obvious. It seems a shame. For those who didn't know it, it was a very well curated and presented library of books mostly by women authors, in a combination of public domain and books for sale. Where it really shone, in my opinion, was with lesser-known public domain gems, but that doesn't pay the bills. Another one bites the dust and it's not surprising, but I wondered if anyone here had the scoop on its demise.

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10-07-2017, 03:45 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,547 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The last snapshot of the site by Internet Archive's "Wayback Machine" is July 13th.

10-07-2017, 04:25 PM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,547 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Are you sure it is defunct? I get the message "Error establishing a database connection", which could simply mean a temporary glitch.

10-08-2017, 12:43 PM	#6
latepaul Wizard Posts: 1,270 Karma: 10468300 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: a variety (mostly kindles and kobos)	The "Contact" page on the archive page lists "info at girlebooks dot com" as an email address. Might be worth dropping them a line.

10-11-2017, 07:35 PM	#7
khalleron Kate Posts: 1,700 Karma: 3605799 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oregon, United States Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour	No, I don't know what happened, Laura and I have had little contact since I decided to list my books for free. She wasn't making enough money from the publishing side to justify the bookkeeping (I myself made a total of $12, so I can see her point). She blogged awhile back that the site would no longer be updated - her RL had just become too busy with other things. I'm guessing she let the domain registration lag or something of that sort since it was no longer a source of income. I'm using Draft2Digital to get my books on other sites, but no longer for free. Guess I better change my signature line.

10-12-2017, 06:58 AM	#9
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,911 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	This is a shame, I loved the descriptive blurbs of the public domain books and the different ways they could be organised. I'm sure they could have raised money through carrying advertising on the site, or asking for donations. How does Project Gutenberg keep going? Or MR, for that matter? Some news pages that I read detect that I have an adblocker (mainly for youtube) and demand that I disable it in order to read them. It's permanently disabled for those pages. Some other sites do the same. Girliebooks could have done this in order to attract advertising. Hindsight's a wonderful thing. Oh well, there's still the less-pretty MR library ... for now!

10-24-2017, 10:33 AM	#10
dandelioncottage Abibliophobe Posts: 425 Karma: 4379916 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPad Mini 2 64 gb, Nook Glowlight, iPad 4 (128 gb)	Girlebooks seems to be active again.

10-24-2017, 07:48 PM	#11
khalleron Kate Posts: 1,700 Karma: 3605799 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oregon, United States Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour	Oh, good!

10-24-2017, 09:57 PM	#12
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,911 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	This is brilliant news!!

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