Barnes & Noble.com Tuesday opened the doors to the
first online bookstore that implements the Microsoft
Reader technology.
With the integrated technology, PC users who visit Barnes & Noble eBookstore can browse and
purchase titles online. Once purchased and downloaded, titles appear in the
user’s library where they can be organized by multiple attributes, including
title, author and size.
The software can be downloaded for free here.
The online bookstore presently features works from more
than 30 publishers, including special promotions from Robert Ludlum,
Nicholas Sparks, Orson Scott Card and Scott Turow.
The eBookStore also offers free downloads of 100 of well-known classics,
including Walden by Henry David Thoreau, The Red Badge of
Courage by Stephen Crane and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher
Stowe.
By integrating Microsoft Reader into its eBookStore, Barnes & Noble.com
has become the only major e-commerce retailer to support three formats of
eBooks:
Microsoft Reader, Rocket eBook and Glassbook, according to Steve Riggio,
vice chairman of Barnes & Noble.com.
“We are encouraged by the prospects of the distribution of digital
content,
of which eBooks are an important element,” said Riggio.
“Our job is to bring readers and writers together,
and this instant form of delivery is a big step forward as the Internet
evolves from a transactional medium to a content-driven resource.”
Among the major publishers featured in the eBookStore launch are Time
Warner, Random House, Simon & Schuster, St. Martins, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
and Walker & Company.
By offering books online, Barnes & Noble is able to identify reader
preferences and offer special electronic promotions. eBook promotions to be
offered include:
- eBook customers purchasing Nicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember
will also receive the first chapter of his new novel, The Rescue. - Customers who purchase Sandra Brown’s The Alibi in eBook form
will receive a free preview of the first chapter of her new novel, The
Switch. - Customers who download Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Shadow, the
parallel to the Ender’s Game, will be among the first to receive the
opening of Card’s soon-to-be-published Shadow of Hegemon.