Google Editions to Launch in U.S. This Year, Internationally Beginning in 2011

At Tools of Change Frankfurt, Google Editions announced its plans to launch in the U.S. by year's end, with international launches following in 2011, as reported by The Bookseller. ABA announced recently that member stores with IndieCommerce websites will be able to sell Google Editions when the product launches.

Google Editions will be readable on multiple e-reading devices such as the iPad, or online through Google's own web reader, though it will not be available on the Kindle device at launch, according to The Bookeller. In Frankfurt, Abraham Murray, product manager for Google's Books team, announced that, at launch in the U.S., there will be more than 400,000 paid-for titles available from Google's publishing partners, as well as some 2 million public domain titles.

Murray noted to Tools of Change Frankfurt attendees that Google would work with U.S. publishers on "agency model" terms, though he acknowledged that this was subject to change, according to The Bookseller. "We will meet the needs of the market, and we are accepting the agency model in the U.S., but we haven't gone after it, and as that plays out we will follow."

In September, in Bookselling This Week, ABA noted a list of key items that booksellers should know about the partnership between Google and IndieCommerce.