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The Booksellers Association's chief executive Tim Godfray has said Kobo, Anobii and Hive will all announce new initiatives to help booksellers sell e-books and e-readers at the BA annual general meeting on 14th June.
Godfray, speaking on the day Waterstones announced a new digital partnership with Amazon, said that the high street bookseller's expertise in customer service was key to book buyers.
“The Waterstones’ tie up with Amazon to sell the Kindle e-book reader and other allied Kindle services indicates not only how important it is for high street booksellers to be able to demonstrate to consumers that they are a place from which e-books and e-readers can be purchased alongside the print versions, but also just how important customer relationships, service and advice are to the book-buying public," Godfray said. "It is the High Street bookseller that can deliver this specialist advice and interaction with the customer."
The BA has been having "detailed discussions with a number of e-book platforms, to help them develop their services to make them more appealing to booksellers" in recent months, Godfray added. “We are delighted to report that at the end of the BA’s AGM in June three companies will describe new initiatives to help booksellers sell e-books and e-readers. These companies are Kobo (W H Smith are currently selling their e-book reader and e-books), Anobii (owned by HMV, HarperCollins, Penguin and Random House) and Hive (owned by Gardners).”