Foreign Literature in the Digital Age: Part Two

I’m a little on the fence about Google Editions, Google’s venture into the marketplace of bookselling and distribution, ready to play with the other kids on the block this June or July. On the one hand, it is has humongous potential to fundamentally change the way we search for, shop for and buy books online: all book retailers, even independent shops, will be able to sell Google Editions on their own website. Customers also have the choice of buying the electronic or hard copy of the book, which shows Google's nod to the fact that we do live in a digital world where 1.8 billion people are connected to the internet. The implications of Google Editions are also pretty huge for this blog, in that you, as an online consumer, will have a new level of access to literature. Apparently the number of publishers and authors on board is over 25,000, and the number of books set to be available is around two million (not to mention all those in the public domain: see below).

Of course, this is where I stop and ask how many of those authors and publishers are foreign, and what Google Edition’s plans are in terms of opening up access to world, and not just American, literature. Google also faces rather daunting competition from three companies you may have heard of: Amazon (with their Kindle), Apple (let’s not forget the iPad), and finally Barnes and Noble. I mean, take a look to the left of this post, and you’ll see an Amazon search box that I put there to make it easier for readers of this blog to purchase the books that we will be reading. It seems late in the game for Google Editions to make a real impact on the digital book market, but I certainly hope that their competition will try to remain just that-competitive- in opening up the world of literature to their consumers.