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Amazon steps up ebook war
Online retailer Amazon.com said yesterday it will exclusively publish digital editions of 20 classic books owned by the Wylie Agency, including authors such as Philip Roth, John Updike and Norman Mailer, for the first time on its Kindle electronic reader. Amazon’s move is a sign of intensifying competition in the crowded digital book format, including Apple iPad and Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader. The Wylie deal may set off a race among the makers of electronic readers to buy digital rights to classic books that will help them to win more customers. Kindle customers can download the books for $9.99 (£6.50).