Things are about to change for book retailers, sellers and distributors with this big news.

This week in the news: “Is the juggernaut Google is getting into the book business?” It looks that way! Google has been planning this entry into the book business

for a while and has put many things in place already so for some this was not big news, but for the average person on the street it is.

So how does this really affect you? There are a couple ways; one how you read and get your books and two how business owners who sell online will have to adapt to the book selling monopoly that’s arriving.

With books being available digitally how you get your books is going to be changing, as the digital readers and format will be pushed on you more. Remember, Google has a much bigger marketing arm then current book players such as Amazon.

Now I can already hear you saying you can’t lounge in the tub or cuddle in bed with a computer screen therefore books will be here for a long time to come. Think about this, a mere 50 years ago we used inkwells to write. When’s the last time you saw an inkwell in action? Change is coming; we just don’t know how it will look.

That being said, Google has already anticipated the need to hold the books and feel those crisp pages in our hands. Only a few weeks back, Google aligned with a company that has a print on demand machine that can make a paperback book on the fly all in the time it takes for you to have a coffee.

Here something that will impress the techno junkies out there:

• It is referred to as the Espresso Book Machine


• It can print and bind a 300-page paperback book, with a full color cover, in about four-and-a-half minutes


• Prices for books are under $9 with profit built in – just think; pay only $9 for your next tech manual!


• To buy the machine yourself is about $100,000

Putting book printing ATM’s on the market is going to change the face of the book industry as affect your local book store, distributors, those trucking the product, and the list goes on (take a minute to think about how much is not going to be needed).

So how will it affect your business? Well that depends on what you sell and what you offer. If you’re selling e-books online, can you compete against print on demand books selling a $9.00? Is your information niche or targeted enough to hold its price?

Another option to consider is if you can offer your product in the Google format as well? Are you designed to sell your product from multiple locations or business models? The good news is now you know what Google is doing and the key is to make sure your business can deal with the changes to come.

A word of advice, no matter what you do as an online business keep and eye on Google because overnight they can change your business model and there is nothing you can do about it, but if you adapt to the changes, there are big opportunities to be had. When was the last time you sat down and actually read a newspaper? That’s how quickly things change.