Google Editions, Pardon Me, Google Ebooks is Here at Last!

Article first published as Google Editions, Excuse Me, Google Ebooks is Finally Here! on Technorati.

Google Ebooks, not Google Editions

We expected it as announced for the summer of 2010. We also expected it to be called Google Editions. Neither of those turned out to be accurate prophesies for the highly anticipated ribbon-cutting ceremony when the world’s largest search engine would open its ebook store for business, but I guess nothing like keeping your word really matters when you’re sitting on a gazillion dollars and have a strangle-hold on the most cherished aspect of the internet.

So, fast forward from summer to the near winter of 2010 and Google Ebooks is actually here and functioning (sort of, see below). It’s good to see they abandoned the original concept of Google Editions, a term that likely would have left a few scratching heads, and went with the impossible-to-misinterpret-but rather-boring-storefront-name of Google Ebooks. Maybe they’ve finally been taking my advice on SEO tips.

A few interesting things to note:

* Google doesn’t have a dedicated reader, like Amazon’s Kindle for example.
* Google makes ebook files readable on any electronic reading device, except Amazon’s Kindle.
* Google is openly against DRM (digital rights management, an encryption code) for the intention of allowing one download to be read on several devices throughout the day. DRM was made famous and still used by, you guessed it, Amazon’s Kindle.

See a theme here? Fortunately for Amazon, it has a loyal customer base, a fine-working and inexpensive product plus a plethora of other ways to make money just in case the combination punch of Apple’s iPad and Google Ebooks eats up too much market share.

One thing that bugs me an as independent author is that Google Ebooks is not anywhere near as user-friendly a place to publish as is Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes&Noble. At those other retailers I can simply fill out the info for my ebook, upload a jpeg cover file, upload a pdf or MS Word doc, review my uploads and presto, it’s done and ready for sales.

Last night I attempted to upload some of my ebooks with Google. I tried and failed with two different methods and currently am waiting on technical support along with several other (from the help forums) independent authors. Surprisingly, Google walked me through a long-winded tutorial on how to rename your cover and content files instead of just loading them up like filling out a form. After I did so, their program had trouble recognizing my user name and password which I painstakingly made sure to type correctly about ten times. Then during an alternative approach the program would not recognize the very file names it asked me to create. And I’m a pro at this! What about all the newbies who’ve never done this before? Those User-Interface guys are mostly Stanford grads, right? You’d think they’d be smart enough to streamline a platform when they have perfectly working examples to go by.

So for now I’m happy that yet another free vendor exists to sell my ebooks, but I’ll look forward to the improvements to their system coming in the winter… maybe spring… hopefully by summer of 2011.
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Home Page of author Jason Matthews.

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Battle for Ebook Supremacy Rages On

Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, recently announced that sales figures for Kindle ebooks passed those figures for hardcovers. He commented for every 100 hardcover books sold, 143 Kindle ebooks were sold for a three-month period and 180 Kindle ebooks last month alone. He also said three times as many Kindles were sold in the first half of this year than for that of 2009. Some people question these numbers but it’s clear that ebook sales are accelerating much faster than paper sales.
It's also true that the iPad is selling by the hundreds of thousands. Steve Jobs has a hit with Apple fans as the iPad is capable of doing many things. Web-browsing, watching movies, checking email, playing games and other activities make the iPad the choice for people who want to do much more than just read.
Barnes & Noble slashed the price of its WiFi only Nook to $149 and the WiFi plus 3G Nook to $199. These prices are lower than the Kindle at $189 and Kindle DX for $379. Barnes & Noble may be forced to take drastic measures now that they’ve fully entered this battle. They are the largest physical space bookseller and may have finally recognized their survival depends on selling ebooks en masse.
Besides that, Borders has the Kobo, Sony's got the Reader, Google Editions unveils itself soon and many other devices like one from Sharp are in contention to sell ebooks. So with all these providers and gadgets in an ebook market, is there room for everyone?
Probably not. But at least some things are evident:
1. Apple has no real competition. Because the iPad does infinitely more than just read books and because their fans are loyal until death, that product is a guaranteed winner. I wonder whether Indie authors will do better by selling ebooks through their iBookstore or if it's necessary to create an App.
2. Amazon has been in this game for a long time. The Kindle is highly preferred by people who just want to read. One problem with the Kindle is its .mobi format, primarily unique to Amazon and not compatible with most other devices. Though Bezos is firmly committed to lowered costs for ebooks and since Amazon does much more than just sell ebooks; it seems that Amazon will surely be around for many years.
3. Barnes & Noble could easily lose the most as it must stay afloat in this ebook battle. Since they didn’t take charge early on, I’m curious if that hesitancy will cost them. Enormous physical stores are expensive to operate, and all B&N does is sell books. Perhaps they can stay afloat but it will more likely happen if the Nook is simply perfect and they continue to drop prices for ebooks. To me, theirs is the most precarious position.
4. As for everyone else, there may or may not be room for a dozen other sellers and devices. Google Editions will be a winner because… well, because they’re Google and they’ve got gillions to cushion any mistakes. For the others it may come down to who can make the best device that sells for the least amount of money. We saw Sony die in a battle with Betamax versus VHS many years ago, but we also know that Macintosh can comfortably exist next to the domination of the PC. Mergers and acquisitions also loom large here, so who might get in bed together? Google and Barnes & Noble? Seems possible.
5. The only absolute certainty… it’s never been a better time to be a writer, Indie author or a self-publisher. Of course the odds are against success, but with persistence and a good product the chances improve dramatically now that there are so many means of making a writing career into a reality.
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Home-run by Apple iPad, next batter... Google Editions

If you’re having trouble keeping up to date on the next biggest thing to revolutionize the publishing industry, you’re not alone. Apple’s iPad came out in the US just barely almost one month ago. How many units have they sold? Over a million as well as 1.5 million ebooks. Say, that sounds like pretty good business, and it doesn’t go international for another few weeks? Yep. It’s big.
The next newcomer to the scene will be Google Editions. With a name like Google it has to be good, we’re thinking. Although they don’t yet have a device specifically made for them, Google will be selling ebooks online starting sometime this summer. They’ve already digitized over 7 million books and are certainly digitizing thousands more as these words are being written and read. This article has more info on it (or you can use a search engine, perhaps Google, to find plenty more) and describes Google as the 800 pound gorilla about to be unleashed in the ebook retailer’s storeroom.
I can’t think of another industry that has as much history as publishing and is changing so freaking fast. 2010 will see Apple’s iPad and Google Editions before it is halfway over. What’s in store for the months to follow?
A few things are sure (in my opinion at least). Publishing has been changed forever. People are reading more than ever and on way more devices. Prices for reading books, magazines, newspapers, etc are dropping dramatically and will continue to. Authors can totally avoid agents and publishers and still make it with talent and persistence. There’s never been a better time for getting your words, voice and opinions out there!

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