Photographers have Flickr. Online video junkies have YouTube. Now aspiring creative writers and authors have BookRix, a first of its kind social network and social media tool for writers! The site originally launched in Germany and announced its public beta U.S. launch.

BookRix.com offers writers a free new platform to have their works reviewed and distributed. The traditional publishing world can be extremely hard to navigate, and BookRix offers aspiring authors easy social media tools for creating, sharing and getting feedback on their creations. Authors can create their own profiles, communicate with other writers, and collaborate to improve their work.

Using a proprietary platform called ViewRix, members can upload, share and comment on original content – whether it’s a novel, manga or even a CD or DVD cover. ViewRix enables easy upload from PDF or Word format and each “book” can be easily embedded for distribution to other sites and blogs.

“With BookRix.com, we see an opportunity to foster creativity in writing and provide an environment where authors and readers can share, critique and enjoy the newest books, short stories, poems and comics,” said Gunnar Siewert, co-founder, BookRix.com. “The traditional publishing world can be challenging to break into and BookRix.com offers aspiring authors a platform to promote themselves and help them begin a career in writing.”

Now anyone can create a book online, share it with peers and get feedback without having to take the traditional publishing route.