Barnes & Noble.com Launches Epublishing Division

Posted on January 5, 2001

Barnes & Noble.com has announced the creation of Barnes & Noble Digital, an electronic publishing imprint. The imprint is an aggressive entry into epublishing for the online retailer and offers authors exposure on the bn.com website as well as Barnes & Noble.com's affiliate network of over 400,000 members. Barnes & Noble.com will offer authors royalties of 35% of the retail price from sales through its ebookstore or affiliate network. The launch was made with an offering of an ebook by bestselling suspense novelist, Dean Koontz.

Another feature of Barnes & Noble Digital includes password access to information about ebook sales for literary agents, so they can track sales for their author clients. Most of the ebooks will be priced in the $5.95 to $7.95 range. The ebooks will be offered in a wide variety of digital formats including PDF and Microsoft Reader. Barnes & Noble Digital will offer its first selection of ebook titles for sale this spring.

The company will focus on publishing digital versions of books currently in print and geared toward the general interest reader. The focus will be on areas such as fiction, science-fiction, business, history, biography, self-help, technology and current affairs. Barnes & Noble Digital will also publish books that are currently out-of-print as well as in the public domain. Such titles will be made available as ebooks and as printed books, using the company's print-on-demand facility.

Barnes & Noble Digital will also develop original ebook titles from established authors. The first selection is The Book of Counted Sorrows, by Dean Koontz. For now, the imprint is planning to only work with literary agents and are not accepting unsolicited manuscripts according to the Author FAQ.

``I am pleased to be working with Barnes & Noble Digital, one of the pioneers of this revolution, '' Koontz said. ``This is a terrific opportunity to speak directly to my readers in a new and intriguing format, and I'm delighted.''

``We believe that the formation of this division represents a s ignificant leap forward for electronic publishing,'' said Michael Fragnito, vice president of the Digital Book Group at Barnes & Noble.com, who also assumes the title of publisher of the new imprint. ``We are in a unique position to make the most direct connection between writers and readers, and will eventually broaden that reach to include the Barnes & Noble book stores, as well as support new technologies as they are developed.''

``Barnes & Noble Digital is a cornerstone of our goal to become a leader in digital publishing,'' said Steve Riggio, vice chairman of Barnes & Noble.com. ``We believe ebooks 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.''

Barnes & Noble.com has appointed Laura Nolan as senior editor of Barnes & Noble Digital to manage the author and agent relationships. Nolan, who reports to Fragnito, is a former literary agent with Sobel Weber Associates, Inc. As an agent, she was involved in the development of the ebook market, holding an ebook auction in July 2000 for a collection of works by James Ellroy called Breakneck Pace.