Direct Sales Online

The world’s largest English language publisher, Random House, is tentatively planning on selling its books direct to consumers via the internet to compliment their existing sales. Reasons cited for this possibility are overall sluggish sales in the publishing industry and a different sales venue for Barnes & Noble. B & N is releasing literary classics, histories, and novelty books, competing with traditional publishers for reader dollars.

Random House continues to do well. Among their 182 New York Times best sellers was Bill Clinton’s My Life, which has 2.6 million copies in print; going online will just increase their market share.

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