Barnes & Noble just announced they are creating a distribution platform for independent authors to sell self-published books on the B&N website –- e-books only.

Smashwords allows anyone who can create a MS Word document to self-publish and distribute on nine platforms including Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo, Apple, and the Smashwords site itself — e-books only.

Of course, Amazon has offered e-book distribution through the Kindle for what seems likes ages now.

So there are many ways to sell and distribute an independent book as long as it’s an e-book.

But if you want to sell a p-book –- that’s a traditional paper book — as a true self-publisher, you have limited options: your own website and Amazon. That’s about it.  Only Amazon offers a program to allow easy sales and distribution of paper books, books that still make up at least 95% of all book sales.

The Amazon program is pretty simple. For $29.95 USD per year, you can have a seller’s account on Amazon.com and your book is listed in their search engines. They won’t keep many copies in stock, so your sales need to drive their purchase orders. But they guarantee you 45% of the retail price of your book. Not great, but manageable. When you start to sell in volume (i.e., you’re shipping them cases of books rather than one or two books at a time), it starts to pay off. They pay you each month with a direct deposit to your bank account. Plus they are the largest e-tailer in the world, so there is value in the exposure you get.

Oddly, as everyone rushes to compete in the emerging digital market, they are leaving Amazon to its monopoly on p-books for the self-publisher. No one wants to challenge the mighty Amazon? Really?

Amazon today unveiled a new addition to its Kindle line of e-reading devices, the Kindle DX. The most notable feature of the DX is its larger screen size — nearly 10″ on the diagonal versus the Kindle’s 6″ screen.

Amazon is touting the device as a comfortable reader for newspapers and text books, as well as e-books. Three major US newspapers — the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Washington Post — have signed on to offer subscriptions at reduced prices.

The Kindle DX is priced at $489, $130 more than the Kindle. And yet, apart from the larger screen size, there’s not much more to love. It’s still a black-and-white display. There’s still no ePub or WiFi support.

Early reactions to the release of the DX has been lukewarm at best. Here’s at peek at some of the commentary from the publishing world circulating on Twitter this morning:

SmartBitches: Dear Amazon: please, keep it coming. I’m enjoying this way too much. I can has moar fail plz? Kthxbye!” #dud #amazonfail

paperhaus: Wondering why Amazon bothered with Kindle 2 at all. It’s not like they cooked up a 8.5×11 screen in 2 months.

ljndawson: $489 Kindle with 16 shades of grey and no discounts on subscriptions if you’re in the paper’s area = lead balloon. #dud

wmacphail: The Kindle needs to be WAY cheaper. Apple is going to kick this thing’s ass.

sarahw: Not getting over the $489 price tag. In a recession. Two months after Kindle 2 unveiled. Like reissuing bare-bones DVD w/ one or 2 extras.

kirkbiglione: No ePub, no WiFi. Kindle closed system continues and it won’t hurt Amazon one bit.

Only time will tell whether consumers agree and bypass the DX, or whether the large screen size will prove an enticement.

It can be a hard battle to earn placement for your book in a bricks-and-mortar store. Not even established publishers get orders from the big chains on every book they publish; the chances for a self-publisher — especially a first-timer — can be downright slim.

Before you start railing about the unfairness of it all, it’s worthwhile to understand the economics of the bookstores’ decision. They have a limited number of stores that can each hold a limited amount of inventory, and they have a limited budget for purchasing that inventory. Even the biggest of book superstores can only hope to carry perhaps 10% of available books.

As Andrew Wheeler, marketing manager at John Wiley & Sons, points out:

Generally, for a hardcover or trade paperback that’s not being pitched for something promotional…you’re talking about whether the order is for one, two, or maybe three copies per store. Or, possibly [less], if the book is only going to the top stores for that category.

Wheeler goes on to discuss buying budgets:

…chainstore buyers have budgets; they don’t have an infinite amount of money to play with. They have to buy books for all of the stores in the chain, in their category, given the money they have available — this is called “open to buy,” and varies depending on recent sales, returns, and what else is publishing that month. Like any other budget, I’m sure buyers start with the most important things — the big books that month — and work their way down the list. If the money runs out before they hit the bottom, that’s it.

The good news for self-published authors is that there are definitely options. Amazon carries everything. There’s never any problem getting your book into Amazon. The websites of the book chains can carry much more inventory than their brick-and-mortar stores — so it’s easy to get in there as well. As a self-publisher, you have the freedom to negotiate bulk sales to groups and associations that other authors don’t have. Take advantage of it.

Certainly it’s nice to be in the chains. For many self-published authors, seeing their book on the shelves of their local Indigo or Borders store feels like acceptance, like a nod to the legitimacy and professionalism of their publishing efforts. But if you’re getting frustrated with low book orders from the chains, don’t despair. They are not the only path to strong book sales. And it’s nothing personal.

Extending its dominion yet again, Amazon has acquired Shelfari, a social networking site for booklovers that allows readers to display a virtual bookshelf and share reviews. The announcement came through the Shelfari blog last week.

Earlier in the year, Amazon had chipped in $1 million in funding for the growing site.

The acquisition presents some interesting conflicts for Amazon. Just one month ago, the e-tail giant acquired AbeBooks, a online dealer in used, rare, and out-of-print books. AbeBooks — and now Amazon — is a 40% stakeholder in LibraryThing, a bitter Shelfari rival.

Will Amazon try to buy up the remainder of LibraryThing and merge it with Shelfari? Given the public animosity between the two sites, the more likely course may be for Amazon to divest itself of its LibraryThing holdings.

Whichever way it goes, authors who haven’t been using social networking sites like Shelfari to build word of mouth for their books online should get started. With further integration between Shelfari and Amazon in the cards, more online reviews could easily equal more sales.

Continuing its quest for world dominance, Amazon today announced in a press release that it has inked a deal to acquire AbeBooks, an online book retailer based in British Columbia.

AbeBooks deals primarily in used, rare, and out-of-print books, and most of its 110 million listings are from independent booksellers. AbeBooks will continue to operate as a stand-alone entity and will maintain all of its websites.

A search of the AbeBooks website reveals no mention of the news.

No purchase price has yet been revealed and the deal is still subject to regulatory approval.

What’s your take on the acquisition?