Amazon and Barnes & Noble are getting most of the press, but several smaller competitors are quietly catching up. Copia announced today that they’ve formed a new partnership with the Australian Publishers Association (APA).

Australia’s booksellers will soon be able to offer their customers a comprehensive suite of eBook and eReader services under the APA’s “TitlePage” brand, all based on Copia’s successful social reading platform. “Our market is in the unique position where our bookstores comprise a large portion of the marketplace. We are glad to partner with Copia as our official eBook partner to bring such a powerful platform to our booksellers,” said Maree McCaskill, CEO of Australian Publishers Association Ltd.

The APA plans to offer customized white label solutions to independent booksellers which will provide each store or chain of stores the chance to create a unique experience based on localized content, commerce and the bookseller’s local community. “We are excited to partner with the APA and Bowker to bring Copia’s capabilities to this exciting and vibrant market,” said Andrew Lowinger, CEO of Copia Interactive, LLC.

Copia announced a major bit of news last week, and it looks like it was swallowed up by the 3 ring circus surrounding the Apple iBooks news. Move over B&N, step aside Google, there’s  new player in the college eBookstore market.

Over the next couple months Copia will be rolling out eBookstores in over 900 college bookstores across the US. Students will be able to buy textbooks, red them on the integrated apps, and use Copia’s social reading platform to collaborate with fellow students.

These bookstore partnerships are part of Copia’s new white-label strategy. The 900+ campus bookstores serve over half the college student population in the US (6 million students). By comparison, B&N College operates 624 bookstores.

Copia launched in early mid late 2010 with plans to be one of the best social reading platforms. They initially planned to support their eBookstore with integrated eReaders as well as their apps, but those were eventually dropped because of the B&N-Amazon price war.

Copia currently has reading apps for Windows 7, OSX, and the iPad. They have also been planning an Android app, but it has been delayed for over a year.

The social reading platform Copia is back in the news today with a new special offer.

Copia has signed a deal with Matt Lewis, the author of The Quotable Rogue: The Ideals of Sarah Palin in Her Own Words. He’s agreed to work with Copia to offer never-before-shared source material. Copia members will be able to buy the eBook and then download Matt’s annotations and marginalia. They’ll receive exclusive details on the book and its subject.

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