The problem with the direction that print retail has taken in the last few years -- with so much material being purchased online, and with so many direct market stores bagging and boarding books before putting them on the racks -- is that the idea of just picking up a book and flipping through it to see what it looks like seems a thing of the past. After all, it's not like you can flip through a book online, right...? Turns out, for Archaia titles, you can.

Archaia has launched a YouTube channel dedicated to recreating the flip test online for interested parties, with eight books being given the treatment. The videos themselves are very simple: In front of a black backdrop, two hands pick up the book, flip through it relatively slowly, and put it down, with only background noise as soundtrack.




The videos are unlikely to make anyone who wasn't curious about the titles rush to stores to pick them up, but as a value-add for interested parties, this is a really nice touch that makes the publisher that little bit more engaged with its audience. Here's hoping other publishers follow suit.

[Via Robot 6]