Yahoo! to sell e-books
© Richard Loeffler
e-book * n. an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a personal computer or handheld device designed specifically for this purpose.
http://www.eBookAd.com would like the definition to include e-Books which are not available in printed form. I have to agree with them. "In addition to that obvious blunder, the definition itself is extremely confusing. Depending on how you interpret the last part, an "e-book" could be either just the content, which is read on a personal or handheld computer or the definition could include both the content and a special handheld device designed for reading." The biggest news this week seems to be that four of the nation's largest trade book publishers announced an agreement with Yahoo! to sell e-books through the Yahoo! Shopping Internet site, while Barnes & Noble Digital announced that it will launch its new digital book group on September 11 with an original e-book from bestselling author Dean Koontz. Announced in January, the B&N digital book group has two imprints: B&N Digital, which will focus on digital reprints of previously published titles, and World Digital Library, which will debut in October and specialize in public domain and out-of print classic titles in e-book editions. B&ND will publish 10-15 titles a month. Books will be priced at $7.95, $5.95 and $4.95. B&ND will feature new introductions by scholars and academics (Suite 101 editors are writing the introductions) and will be available as e-books and print-on-demand paper editions.
Koontz's The Book of Counted Sorrows will kick off the B&ND launch with a Koontz press conference and reading in Los Angeles September 11.
On the subject of brick and mortar stores going electronic, WHSmith.co.uk, one of the U.K.'s top online bookstores, is adding an e-bookstore to its Web store. The site will be among the first associated with a major U.K. retailer to offer e-books. WHSmith will offer thousands of e-books from the launch. The e-books, available primarily in Microsoft Reader format, are from some 250 publishers, including Random House, HarperCollins, Time Warner, Taylor & Francis and Cambridge University Press.
Last month, Penguin U.K., the originator of the mass market paperback announced the release of over 200 new and classic titles in e-book format.
