There seems to be no shortage of excitement with Barnes & Noble’s entry into the eReader sector and what’s funny is that each time it takes a step to put out something new, you slowly see their two-year strategy or plan coming to form.   First it was the launch of their eReader in October 2009 (the Nook) that caught people off guard in the first place, even though the play made sense!  To date, their sales show that B&N’s Nook is second in terms of market share in the eReader space  and as a result, an obviously good product release decision: Amazon – 43.3%, Nook – 16.3%, Sony – 13.8%, Other eReaders – 26.6% (source; DigiTimes).  Then, earlier this month, B&N announced that it was opening up a self-publishing site that would enable writers to post their content directly to the Nook Store.  An interesting idea and a good way to secure content that at least in the early stages, will be unique to the Nook reader.   So, given their eReaders infancy and the already busy year they have had, we were surprised to hear that Barnes & Noble is now coming to market with it’s second generation Nook, brilliantly (?) entitled ‘Nook Color’.

With B&N moving their reader to a colour enabled platform, they’ve opened themselves up to a ton of opportunity and user delight, none of which do I think they are unaware of.   The bookstore chain has already made agreements with CondeNast and Hearst to enable their Nook Color users to either purchase single editions of a magazine or newspaper, and even subscriptions – and if you recall, the business of magazine and newspaper subscriptions is something that Apple mentioned a few months ago, but is still in the process of working out right now.

With Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color now providing better content presentation, direct access to newspapers and magazines, coupled with it’s WiFi enabling, the Nook is no longer just an eReader.  Users, if connected to WiFi, can utilize their Nook to access the Internet in ways they would a tablet device, and it is to this point where B&N’s strategy starts to get interesting.  From what we understand, Barnes&Nobel is going to market with a sticker price of $250.00 for the Nook Color and for some who find the Apple iPad pricey and out of range, they may find B&N’s solution enough for them.  Besides, we know for a fact that Barnes & Noble isn’t stopping here.  With the upcoming launch (November 19th) of the Nook Color, they have invited developers to create Nook specific aps. for their users and they just announced their Nook Kids product, which couldn’t have happened before the Nook Color release anyway.  Nonetheless, I see the beginnings of a sustainable strategy here, which if done right could position Barnes & Noble as the provide of the eReader+ that bridges the gab between the iPad and the Kindle.

It seems as though Barnes & Noble has arrived into the publishing business with its release of something they are calling ‘PubIt!‘.  PubIt! is an online, self-service Web portal where independent publishers and authors can upload their eBooks and make them available for sale through the Barnes & Noble eBookstore.  Content can also be syndicated to the Barnes&Noble reader (the Nook) and various other supported eReaders.

Like the average publisher Barnes&Noble will take a percentage of book sales and writers will be paid a royalty off of the list price; eBooks with a list price between $2.99 to $9.99 will gain the writer 65% of the list price and for eBooks priced at less than $2.99 or more than $9.99, the writer will gain 40% of the list price.  We are still trying to figure out the motivation for the price points.

Nonetheless, we’re quite excited about what this could mean to the book publishing industry and to inspiring writers.  Firstly, inspiring writers now have a  low cost to entry access point where they can get their product read and voices heard.  The probability of that talented writer, being picked up by an agent using PubIt! as a source to find new talent, is also quite high.  Lastly, the drive for more self serve publishing will undoubtedly keep the larger publishing conglomerates somewhat honest.