Book View Café came together in March of 2008 around a group of authors with a simple aim:  to use the Internet to bring our work directly to our readers. It was already clear that a revolution was coming to the publishing industry and we wanted to help shape its course.

Working with a shoe-string budget and volunteer labor, but drawing on a collective century’s worth of experience in the publishing industry, we created the Book View Café website, a place where readers can browse and discover new authors and titles alongside current favorites. We made sure that fresh fiction appeared on the front page every day, a feat made possible by the extensive list of material available to over twenty professional authors.

The Book View Café site officially launched in November of 2008. Since then the site has experienced a steady growth in readers and in author-members.

Not content to make our previously published work available, in 2009 the BVC authors began to publish original work. Our first title, Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls, is an original anthology of new work and classic reprints. We followed this up with an all-original steampunk anthology, The Shadow Conspiracy, and Sarah Zettel's story in the book was nominated for a Sidewise Award.

In 2010, BVC published a fantasy anthology Dragon Lords and Warrior Women, a writing how-to book Brewing Fine Fiction, and a special fundraiser anthology Breaking Waves, to benefit the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund.  Early in 2011 BVC released a second volume of The Shadow Conspiracy, and more anthologies are on the slate as well as many ebooks, both backlist and original, from BVC members.

BVC is a cooperative effort among authors, and welcomes donations to help pay for the site, site management, and upgrade efforts. We also offer ebooks for sale on the site, and while a part of the proceeds goes toward site maintenance, 95% goes to the authors.  That means that the author gets more of the cover price at BVC than at any other online bookseller (Amazon, B&N, iTunes).  

Our blog is updated daily with posts from member authors. Subject matter is up to the authors. There are no rules, guidelines, or speed limits.

For detailed answers to come commonly asked questions, please read our FAQ page.

We love to hear from our readers. Please take a moment to comment on what you’d like to see here or what we could do to improve your visit to the Café: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Welcome to the Café!