Bookseller–or–Publisher? B&N Wants It All

As mentioned during the past year, Booksellers Barnes & Noble has been following through on its plans to publish its own line of books to be sold (‘natch) in its many stores across the country.

But in an article in the September 9 edition of the New York Times(link corrected),the company is planning on going even further…into the realm of the bestseller. B&N produced a hardcover edition of The 9/11 report at the same time as W.W. Norton (chosen by the Commission as publisher of record) but at half the Norton price, to be sold in its own stores. The article goes on to say that “the company commented at length about robust sales of the Norton paperback “9/11 Commission Report” this summer, [but] it never mentioned that it was preparing its own hardcover version.”

B&N has also reissued several top sellers from the past such as “The Making of the President” and other out-of-print titles including “Jane “Eyre” and “Moby Dick”, books in the public domain. This week, they are releasing a coffee-table book entitled “Hippie”, by Barry Miles, that has already reached number 12 on the NY Times Bestseller List.

Despite protests from competing booksellers Borders Group, and numerous publishers, B&N continues on with its plans, hoping to produce about 10% of its revenues from publishing by the year 2008.