Online Book Chat

So a Book TV-type chat show for the Web is scheduled to debut, called Titlepage.

When I first saw the headline and who the host was going to be, I thought maybe the site was going to serve as an auction block for new books—publishers read the first chapter on their laptops and ask to see more, offline. (Or, if enough interest in generated, maybe the author could force a bid then and there, à la eBay.)

Which might not be that bad an idea for new authors who lack representation—though I can’t help but think there must be something like that already out there, no?