Barnes and Noble Launches Digital Publishing Service

We all know in the next couple of years, printed media (ads, newspapers, magazines, books) will disappear right? Well, that may be a little too soon, but why not take advantage of the digital age now, and start creating content specifically designed to reach out to that ever increasing populous opting for all things digital? Especially if you’re an up-and-coming author looking to get that book published but hasn’t been able to get a major publishing house to notice you.

If you are willing to go the unconventional, but increasingly common eBook route, you might want to check out Barnes & Noble’s new PubIt! site that specifically caters to self and independent publishers. With PubIt!, the smaller publishing outfits will now have a chance to share their content with the millions of already faithful Barnes & Noble customers whether it be online or in-store. I’ll pause and let B&N put in their two cents:

“PubIt! is a convenient one-stop-shop, allowing publishers to get their content in front of consumers for purchase and reading on the most widely adopted mobile devices and software platforms. By following simple steps to upload their content in an industry standard format for electronic titles, content creators can reach consumers on hundreds of devices including: NOOK by Barnes & Noble, PC, Mac®, iPad™, iPhone®, BlackBerry® and others.”

With mobile technology, readers are opting to load up their devices with digital content. B&N via PubIt!, is making it very easy for consumers to access this content. As a result, the likelihood of more content being sold is a good horse to bet on. In my opinion, it would behoove any author or publisher, regardless of size (but I am rooting for the small guys…and gals) to start creating more digital content.

B&N makes it super simple to start publishing through PubIt! too. Once you set up an account, you upload your files and cover art (you still need to do SOME work and get an artist/designer to make your book stand out); and PubIt! then converts your content the ePub format that’s pretty much the standard format for most mobile devices; and B&N takes over and puts your eBook on their digital shelves for all of their customers to see.

Finally, B&N promises your content won’t get bootlegged too bad will be protected with its tried and true digital rights management technology. So you can rest assured that B&N will look after your content with the same if not better industry standards currently utilized across the board.

PubIt is currently accepting signups, but the service won’t be available until sometime this summer. Additionally, the pricing and compensation scheme (which is what most of you reading this were waiting for) isn’t out either; but, B&N promises a “competitive royalty model” that it hopes will be attractive enough to bring out all those authors and publishers that want to shine, but haven’t been able to break that major publisher glass ceiling…or get on Oprah’s Book Club.

For more information, visit bn.com/pubit.

About the Author
Terrance Gaines is a husband, father and self-proclaimed Technology Evangelist who shares tech news, reviews, tips and tricks on his blog BrothaTech.com as well as other sites and in print media. You can also find him talking "all things tech" on Twitter @BrothaTech.
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