It’s actually happened. Google Editions,  delayed for months while its developers built its stupendous inventory and refined its delivery system, has opened its doors under a new “DBA” (Doing Business As): Google eBooks.

You’ve been waiting so long that you probably need a refresher course in what it is that will make Google eBooks unique.

Earlier this year, PC World’s Ian Paul wrote: “Unlike Google’s biggest competitors, Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which rely heavily on restrictive DRM, Google’s store will not be device-specific – allowing for e-books purchased through Google Editions to be read on the far greater number of e-book readers that will flood the market in 2010″

Now you’ll be able to download Google’s vast library on just about any device available. Since most publishers have not given their content exclusively to Amazon or B&N, you’ll be able to find and buy it from Google editions and read it on whatever device you fancy. But the content will not be stored on your device or on the hard drive of your computer. It will be stored in what Google poetically calls “The Cloud” but more prosaically is simply Google’s server farm.

The royalty deal Google offers publishers is 63 % of gross sales. This compares favorable with the 50% offered by most e-retailers. But Google is also offering to partner with retailers. If you decide you’d like to open an e-book retail store but don’t know how and where to acquire the content, Google will furnish it. Your company would get 55 percent of revenues less a commission for Google.

“Google’s e-books would reportedly be indexed and searchable like many books are now through Google’s Book Search,” says Paul. “Unlike titles offered through e-readers, Google Editions books would not have to be accessed through a dedicated reader or special application.Instead, any device with a Web browser will be able to access a Google Editions book. After you purchase and access your online book for the first time, it will be cached in your browser making the book available when you’re offline.” (Details in Google Editions Embraces Universal E-book Format)

As counterintuitive as it may sound, Google eBooks may prove to be a bonanza to independent bookstores. Julie Bosman writing in the New York Times tells us that “Google Editions will allow users to buy e-books from Google or from the Web sites of independent bookstores, which have yet to find a way to compete with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple on the electronic front. E-book customers would be able to set up an account for buying books, store them in a central ‘library’ online and read them on Internet-connected computing devices, including smartphones and tablets. Millions of books would be available free.”

E-Reads is loading its books into the Google’s bookstore and we look forward to partnering with them.

Richard Curtis
Every Blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting performed by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.