Google eBookstore – Good or Bad for Authors?

Google eBookstore

While I was catching up with my emails yesterday, I saw an advert flash up above them directing me to the Google eBook store.

Out of curiosity I entered and perused the science fiction section, then the space opera subheading, looking for my own sci-fi space opera novel.

Of course, it wasn’t there. And yet when I typed in the novel’s title in the search engine, up it came.

The interesting thing for me was that besides showing the title, its cover, my name, the ISBN numbers, my publisher’s name, and the user ratings, the list of reviews Google has added, have been poached from Goodreads!

Google claims to have millions of e-books available in their store, but do they really? They seem to be poaching directly from other sites like Goodreads.

They have a button for the reader to click on, asking for a Google e-book version of whatever title you find to be added to their eBookstore.

Does that mean that they plan on bypassing the legitimate publisher, and those of us who’s work it is, cutting us out of any sales profit?

What are you up to Google?

As for their pricing regime, well that’s another story…