As you may have heard, Google is ready to jump back into the ebook wars with Google Editions, slated for release later this month.

How will it differ from your current ebook reading experience? Here’s what the Wall Street Journal says:

“Google Editions hopes to upend the existing e-book market by offering an open, “read anywhere” model that is different from many competitors. Users will be able to buy books directly from Google or from multiple online retailers—including independent bookstores—and add them to an online library tied to a Google account. They will be able to access their Google accounts on most devices with a Web browser, including personal computers, smartphones and tablets.”

So, in essence, you’ll do your ebook reading within your Google account–not by downloading your ebook to your Nook or Kindle as you would with those competing devices.

There are a few other noticeable differences as well, especially in regards to pricing and royalties. For example, a publisher can’t price their ebook any higher than the price of their print version (not surprising, but interesting nevertheless). Furthermore, it doesn’t look like their royalty structure is as enticing as some competitors, as reported by The Washington Post:

“Google will pay publishers 52 percent of the revenue from titles it sells and 45 percent of the proceeds from those sold by resellers. Those splits fall well below those of such e-book competitors as Amazon and Apple, each of which offer publishers 70 percent.”

You can read more by visiting Google’s Editions help site.

I don’t know, but I’m not sold on this approach to reading books. But on the other hand, Google’s  market will be significantly larger since they’re not tying themselves–or their ebooks–to specific software or ereader devices.

It’s not too late for a player like Google to significantly impact the ebook revolution, so I say “Welcome to the Club!”

What do you think? Feel free to comment here or join the discussion on Facebook.

Till next time, keep publishing!

Henry Hutton

PublishandSell.com
hhutton@publishandsell.com
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