eLearning Service

Will all our most desired ebooks be withheld  from Amazon in the future and sold directly by publishers at higher prices? 

Publishers will no doubt look with favor on Google’s promise to challenge Amazon’s ebook sales by enabling them to sell digital versions of their newest books directly to consumers through Google, setting their own retail prices.

On Kindle: Amazon’s ebook reading devicebooks typically sell for $9.99, a figure that is far below publisher prices.  According to a spokesperson, Google would probably allow publishers to charge consumers the same price for digital editions as they do for new hardcover versions (around $26).  He said Google would reserve the right to adjust prices that it deemed “exorbitant.”

“Clearly, any major company coming into the e-book space, providing that we are happy with the pricing structure, the selling price and the security of the technology, will be a welcome addition,” said David Young, chief executive of Hachette Book Group, which publishes blockbuster authors like James Patterson, Stephenie Meyer and Nicholas Sparks.

Google has already made its 1.5 million public-domain books available for reading on mobile phones as well as the Sony Reader, the Kindle’s largest competitor.

Google’s program would allow consumers to read books on any device with Internet access, including mobile phones, rather than being limited to dedicated reading devices like the Amazon Kindle.  The project, announced at BookExpo this week, is expected to launch before the end of 2009.  Photo by jblyberg.  Creative Commons license.