Publisher HarperCollins will soon launch a website, Authonomy.co.uk, which “will allow unpublished authors to upload their manuscripts for others to read and comment on. The website will provide an opportunity to spot promising new work, but also, more importantly from the publisher’s point of view, will create an online community of readers and writers” reports The Independent. The publisher is keen on building a community of authors and readers, viewing it as a whole new business model. The general idea appears to be to go direct-to-consumer…the community site will give HarperCollins insights into the kinds of books readers like, which will let the company offer them something which should be of interest to them, and thus increase sales. HarperCollins CEO Victoria Barnsley sees digital as “a fantastic opportunity” which gives authors a direct dialogue with readers. She points out that for an author obscurity is a greater threat than privacy. HarperCollins isn’t the only one going digital, of course, with the latest effort being Amazon’s (NSDQ: AMZN) US effort of an electronic reader, dubbed Kindle.