Originally published November 29 2005
Boundaries between retail and publishing are disappearing
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Publishers like Random House and Penguin have begun selling e-books to customers from their website, a trend that promises to bring retailers and publishers into conflict.
"We can offer features, services and guidance that might be difficult for another retailer to provide," said John Makinson, chairman of the Penguin Group.
"What we're not going to be is competitors to Amazon or any other retailer in this area."
Nevertheless, publishers have been none too thrilled about retailers like Barnes & Noble encroaching on their territory by self-publishing a range of books, including classics by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Mark Twain.
"The retailers have become publishers, so why can't publishers become retailers?"
Random House, the world's largest publisher of consumer books and a unit of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, launched its online selling venture without fanfare this year, offering its entire catalog of titles in print.
It is giving no discounts, will not waive shipping and handling charges and will only send books to U.S. addresses.
"We're happy with how it's been going," spokesman Adam Rothberg said.
"We never expected it would create an avalanche of sales, but it would have been foolish to pass up the opportunity to let visitors to our site buy a book they came to find out about.
"We feel like we're offering a service and the immediate gratification to order the book right there and then."
Amazon.com declined to comment and Barnes & Noble officials could not immediately be reached.
Harlequin, the romance-novel publisher, was an early adapter, first selling directly online in 1995, the same year Jeff Bezos started Amazon.com.
Since rebranding the site on Valentine's Day 2000, eHarlequin.com has sold millions of books with such racy titles as Incriminating Passion and Silent Desires.
Unlike its rivals, Harlequin does offer a 20 percent discount on all titles and, in some cases, free shipping.
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