Google doesn't have its own e-reading device and that might be one of the strengths of its planned Google Editions e-book store.
"Google is going to turn every internet space that talks about a book into a place where you can buy that book," Dominique Raccah, publisher and owner of Sourcebooks Inc., told The Wall Street Journal. "The Google model is going to drive a lot of sales. We think they could get 20 percent of the e-book market very fast."
Consumers will be able to buy books directly from Google or independent retailers and add them to an online library that they can access through any device connected to the internet. All they need beyond that is a Google account. Millions of books will be available for free.
Some small book retailers see Google as a means to get in on the e-reading business.
"If I don't change with what is going on, I am going to be behind," Liz Murphy, owner of the Learned Owl Book Shop in Hudson, Ohio, told the Journal. "People are getting e-books but they aren't getting them from me."
Discussion Question: What will Google Editions mean for the e-book retailing business?