By Nora Macaluso E-Commerce Times
01/04/01 11:17 AM PT
Online shoppers are likely to
enjoy the instant delivery of e-books and the lack
of sales tax in all U.S. states except New York.
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In a bid to capture a share of the emerging market for
electronic books, Barnesandnoble.com (Nasdaq: BNBN)
said Thursday that it has created an e-publishing division that will
offer authors a royalty rate higher than
the rates offered by other publishers.
The move will "create a direct link between authors and
their readers" and give authors a greater share of the income from their
works, the company said. Barnesandnoble.com also said that it
will offer lower retail prices in an effort to build
the emerging e-book market.
"We believe e-books will help to increase the size of the book market by
creating new demand for existing books and by encouraging new
entrepreneurial ways to publish," Barnesandnoble.com vice chairman Steve Riggio said.
Percentages Count
Barnesandnoble.com said it will make its digital publications available to other
e-book sellers, as well as selling them over the Barnes & Noble network . The
first titles will be available this spring, with a new book from best-selling
author Dean Koontz, the company said.
Koontz, who will make his e-book debut with "The Book of Counted Sorrows,"
called the Barnes & Noble venture a "terrific opportunity" to reach readers.
The company is pitching the e-publishing division as an important resource
for authors, with editorial support and online sales monitoring, in addition
to exposure on the Barnesandnoble.com site.
The new division, Barnes & Noble Digital, will pay authors 35 percent of the
retail price of a book sold directly through Barnesandnoble.com
or its affiliate network, and 50 percent of net revenue from sales through
third parties. The company said the rate is "significantly higher" than that
offered by other online publishers.
Priced To Sell
Most of the books will be priced between US$5.95 and $7.95. Consumers, the
company said, will enjoy the instant delivery and the lack
of sales tax in all U.S. states except New York.
In addition to new works by established authors such as Koontz, Barnes &
Noble Digital will focus on electronic versions of general-interest books
currently in print. Fiction, science fiction, business, history, biography, and
self-help e-books are planned.
Out-of-print books will also be available, using the company's
print-on-demand facility.
Literary agents can check on their clients' sales through a
password-protected area of the bn.com Web site, the company said.
Brick Players
A report issued last month by research firm
IDC predicted that the digital publishing
market is set to soar, growing from $9 million
in 2000 to $414 million in 2004.
Recognizing the potential that the e-book market holds, several major
publishers, including Time Warner and Random House, have set up digital
publishing divisions.
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