Members of the teen girl dress-up website Stardoll will find their online input going to create a range of books for a second time.
Random House and the website have signed a three-year deal in which they will release non-fiction books comprising 2,000 fashion “meDolls” styled by the site’s members.
Similar to how Moshi Monsters engages its young customers to redeem their trading cards for in-world experiences, Stardoll members will be able to fit out their own meDolls in the outfits contained in the books.
Stardoll is funded by Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital, and has found success amassing an audience of teen girls.
The five forthcoming titles will be Stardoll Top Trends, Fashion Factor, Super Stylist, My Style Diary, and Stardoll Official Handbook.
In September 2010, Random House began serialising a new vampire tale, Mortal Kiss, through Stardoll, whose members were able to influence the story’s outcomes. It was a big success, with 17 million views and with many purchases by users of virtual versions of the clothes worn by book characters. Mortal Kiss has since been published in print.
The publisher last week posted that novel’s follow-up, Fool’s Silver, through the site, attracting 400 sceneries and 1,600 from 76,000 members.