Google eBookstore Has Launched

Google Editions launched with the new name, Google eBookstore. UPDATE: Read more about book reviews, pricing, and formats here.

We followed the story all day, but here are a few links. We’ve embedded the front-page titles above, so click to enlarge for pricing and eBook selection. According to the site, Google eBookstore features  three million free ebooks and “hundreds of thousands” of books you can buy.

As readers explored the site, a debate has started in the Help Forums. One Google eBookstore user garnered the support of 32 readers by writing: “Without Kindle support this store is dead in the water.” Another reader responded: “If you have other ereaders, you can buy books from B&N, Sony, Google Books, Borders.com, etc. and even get books from the library. This is made possible through adoption of a universal format – ePUB.”

LA Times had this report: “Google is working with all of the big six major publishing houses — Random House, Penguin, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Simon and Schuster and Macmillan — and thousands of smaller publishers to offer more than 250,000 in-print books for sale.”

Publishers Weekly had this report: “Readers can store and access their e-book libraries on cloud-based personal bookshelves accessible through their Google accounts, and can also download DRM-protected ePub or PDF files directly to their computer or other device for use offline. Google officials say its pricing ‘will be competitive,’ with other e-book ventures, and will accommodate the agency model if desired.”

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