With the advent of electronic books, it appears that almost anyone can be a publisher. Authors, such as Stephen King and Frederick Forsyth, have bypassed their traditional publishers for epublishing or self-publication. Literary agents, such as Richard Curtis, have become epublishers. And now, Barnes & Noble.com, a major book distributor, will have a publishing house as well. The traditional roles of the book industry are definitely blurring. 

On January 4th, Barnes & Noble.com declared its entry into the publishing market with the formation of Barnes & Noble Digital, an epublishing house. Beginning this spring, Barnes & Noble Digital plans to publishing several thousand ebook titles. Although many will be from the public domain, B&N is actively courting established authors as well. One of the first titles to be published will be Dean Koontz's "The Book of Counted Sorrows." 

But, it is more than just the blurring of boundaries that makes the traditional publishing houses wary of B&N.com. B&N.com announced that its digital publishing house would offer authors the largest standard royalties in the publishing industry:

"The standard royalty for previously published books will be 35% of the retail sale price of every eBook sold through the Barnes & Noble.com web site and affiliate sites, and 50% of the net revenue received from sales made through third party online retailers." (from Barnes & Noble Digital Fact Sheet)

The focus of B&N.com's collection will be titles already in print in the genres of fiction, science fiction, business, history, self-help, science and current affairs, as well as resurrecting current out-of-print titles. It appears that the publication of original ebook titles will be restricted to already established authors, such as Koontz. 

B&N.com plans to sell their ebook titles in three formats: Microsoft Reader, Adobe eReader (formerly Glassbook) and Gemstar eBook. The select of these formats is driven in part by the popularity of these formats, as well as the fact that B&N.com is already one of the largest distributors of these three ebook formats.

Since Barnes & Noble Digital will be creating a digital collection of primarily previously publishing titles, their success relies on B&N.com's ability to obtain the digital rights to titles that the public wants to read. This might be rather difficult. Even if a traditional publisher does not yet have an epublishing branch, it is often obtaining the digital rights to a work by including it in an author's publishing contract. Now, with B&N.com's threat of pricing their ebooks below the price of any print version, publishers will be even more determined to ensure that their authors cannot sell the digital rights of their works to any third party.

Even with their standard royalties of 35%, it may be difficult to entice established authors away from their traditional publishers. 35% of B&N.com's low ebook prices ($5.95-$7.95) is little different than 10% royalties on a traditional hardback priced at $24.95. Moreover, can a distributor, such as B&N.com, compete with the marketing and editing expertise that authors expect from their publishers? 

It may be that Barnes & Noble Digital's success will lie in the resurrection of out-of-print titles. Out-of-print titles require little editing, the digital rights are obtainable from the authors and the royalties would be very enticing. However, the percentage of out-of-print titles already in digital form is very small, so there is the added cost of digitizing the books. It looks like a difficult road ahead for Barnes & Noble Digital.