Barnes & Noble PubIt! Self-Publishing Ebook Service Due Summer 2010

Barnes & Noble have announced PubIt!, a way for independent publishers and authors to create their own ebook content for the B&N ebook store, and the company's response to the Kindle Digital Text platform.  Full royalty details for B&N PubIt! are yet to be confirmed, but ebooks produced via the system will be DRM encrypted and available not only on the nook but the retailer's PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and BlackBerry clients.

PubIt! will open its virtual doors for business this coming summer, and authors will apparently be able to create ebooks by a simple matter of uploading them in a common text format, adding cover art and then approving them for inclusion in the B&N eBookstore.  Its success in comparison to Amazon will depend on how generous the royalties are, but we imagine most self-publishing authors will choose to add their content to both services.

Barnes & Noble nook demo:

[vms ca02b0d42dabeb8e46bb]

Press Release:

Barnes & Noble Announces PubIt!™, An Easy-to-Use Digital Publishing and Distribution Platform for Independent and Self-Publishers

PubIt! Enables Independent Publishers and Self-Published Authors

Access to Sell eBooks and Content to Millions of Readers

on Barnes & Noble's Online and Digital Platforms

New York, New York – May 19, 2010 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, is extending its deep and longstanding tradition of supporting authors and publishers with PubIt! by Barnes & Noble, an easy and lucrative way for independent publishers and self-publishing writers to distribute their works digitally through BN.com and the Barnes & Noble eBookstore. The easy-to-use publishing and distribution platform offers qualified independent publishers and authors of self-published works expanded distribution, visibility and protection that only Barnes & Noble can offer.

The announcement marks Barnes & Noble's latest move to continue to build one of the world's largest digital catalogs, spanning eBooks, journals, periodicals and other types of reading material. PubIt! titles will be distributed through BN.com and Barnes & Noble's eBookstore, which currently offers more than one million digital titles to millions of dedicated customers in-store and online.

Independent publishers and writers will appreciate PubIt!'s simple and competitive royalty model and compensation process, the details of which will be available in the coming weeks. Content owners' intellectual property will be well-protected with Barnes & Noble's best-in-class digital rights management technology and offered in the industry standard ePub format that allows publishers' works to be enjoyed by millions of Barnes & Noble customers on hundreds of the most popular computing, mobile and eBook reading devices.

"As a company that has achieved much of its success by building mutually beneficial relationships with publishers and authors, Barnes & Noble's new PubIt! service represents an exciting evolution and significant opportunity in the digital content arena," said Theresa Horner, Director, Digital Products, Barnes & Noble. "Barnes & Noble is uniquely positioned to support writers and publishers and bring their exciting digital works to the broadest audience of readers anywhere."

Whether online or on-the-go, Barnes & Noble customers will have access to PubIt! titles with the opportunity to browse, sample, buy and download the digital content in seconds to their devices with free BN reader software. Using Barnes & Noble's breakthrough Read In Store™ technology, NOOK™ customers can also browse the complete contents of PubIt! titles while in Barnes & Noble stores.

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. For more information on free BN eReader software and apps, please visit www.bn.com/ebooks/download-reader.asp.

More information on PubIt!, which will be available this summer, and the benefits of joining Barnes & Noble's expansive and trusted digital content catalog can be found at www.bn.com/pubit.

About NOOK™, by Barnes & Noble

NOOK marries innovative technology and sleek minimalist design with access to the Barnes & Noble's digital store of over one million eBooks, newspapers and magazines. NOOK's color touch screen for navigation along with a best-in-class E Ink display offer an immersive, enjoyable eReading experience. It offers both 3G wireless and Wi-Fi access, is the first to offer digital lending for a wide selection of eBooks through its LendMe™ technology. In Barnes & Noble stores, NOOK customers can access free Wi-Fi connectivity, enjoy the beta Read In Store feature to browse many complete eBooks for free, and the More In Store program, which offers free, exclusive content and special promotions. NOOK is available for $259 in Barnes & Noble stores, www.nook.com and at Best Buy stores and www.bestbuy.com.

To learn more and experience NOOK, visit www.nook.com. Follow our eBooks and other updates on www.twitter.com/NOOKBN and www.facebook.com/NOOKBN for information on NOOK updates, new eBook releases, Free Friday eBooks and more. To learn more about the free Barnes & Noble eReader software and Barnes & Noble eBookstore apps, visit www.bn.com/ebooks.

ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE, INC.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 723 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 639 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and over 250,000 faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is the nation's top bookseller brand for the seventh year in a row, as determined by a combination of the brand's performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent; the top bookseller in quality for the second year in a row and the number two retailer in trust, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web's largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than one million titles in its eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks). Barnes & Noble customers can buy and read eBooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOKTM by Barnes & Noble, eBook readers from partner companies, and hundreds of the most popular mobile and computing devices using free BN eReader software.