HarperCollins Joins Scribd in E-Book Subscription Plan

HarperCollins is the latest publisher to try a Netflix-style e-book subscription service, announcing that it has struck a deal to make its backlist books available on Scribd, a Web site for sharing documents and books.

Scribd, with a generous base of 80 million visitors to its site each month, said it was positioned to become a prominent e-book subscription service, in which consumers pay a flat monthly fee for access to a large catalog of e-books. Brian Murray, the chief executive of HarperCollins, said he was encouraged to sign on partly because of consumer interest in subscription models for music, television and radio. The idea has been circulating in publishing for years, but it has gained little traction.