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B&N increases footprint at LBF

17.04.12 | Lisa Campbell

Barnes & Noble is continuing to meet with international publishers to hammer out agreements for its Nook device, despite plans for a UK partnership with Waterstones being pushed back to the summer.

B&N, which is exhibiting the Nook for the first time at the London Book Fair, sent out "international e-content distribution agreements" to UK publishers ahead of LBF, and has had a full schedule of meetings with British publishers.

In a document seen by The Bookseller, B&N asks UK publishers, and their distributors, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensees and third-party retail partners, for the "non-exclusive, worldwide right to make e-content available for sale".

Although both Waterstones and B&N have declined to comment on a UK launch, publishers which have met with Nook representatives have told The Bookseller that a partnership is imminent. 

In the distribution agreement, B&N discusses its e-content stores, digital lockers, lending and in-store browsing rules. Any customer can upload and download any book they have previously purchased from "time to time", with "e-content store" being classified as "e-content stores operated by Barnes & Noble, including but not limited to Barnes & Noble.com and any e-content store operated by Barnes & Noble on behalf of any third party anywhere in the world, and e-content stores operated by or in conjunction with a third-party retail partner of Barnes & Noble."

In terms of pricing, B&N has requested the “sole and complete discretion to set the end-user price for any e-content sold by Barnes & Noble hereunder," determining that the "e-content provider’s share of the sale of any e-content shall be 50% of the e-content provider’s Digital List Price (VAT-exclusive)".

• Barnes & Noble
• Lisa Campbell
• London Book Fair
• the Nook