14 DAY TRIAL // Google is keen on expanding its eBookstore to as many places as possible, at least English-speaking places, and has now opened up shop in Australia, following a similar move in Canada and the UK. Of course, Google has gotten together with local players and authors, but the bulk of the content will be common to all.
"Today, Google eBooks has landed in Australia, and whether you're a bookworm or casual reader, you're invited to stop by and stock up on some great reads for summer," Mark Tanner, eBooks Partnerships Manager for Google Australia, announced.
"We've got hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from, including plenty of best sellers, and more than two million free eBooks on top of that. It's easy to find great Australian authors like Kate Grenville, Thomas Keneally, Geraldine Brooks and Christos Tsiolkas," he said.
To stock up on some local content, which you can imagine is rather important, Google has partnered with the likes of Allen & Unwin, Scribe and Text Publishing and hundreds of other local publishers.
Continuing the model of partnering with local book or ebook stores, Google is also working with Booktopia and Dymocks to sell books from the eBookstore. Google will soon partner with QBD The Bookshop and The Co-op Bookshop.
One of the eBookstore's big differentiating feature, that Google doesn't pass on the chance to boast about, is the fact that books become available on any device with a browser, you're not locked into anything, all your books are in the cloud.
Now that it's done with the international, English-language expansion, Google is also opening up its affiliate program to Australia, Canada and the UK.
Now, bloggers, websites, retailers and anyone in between can link to book titles from the eBookstore and earn a fee on any sale leading from their links.
