Will bookshops be sidelined by publishers?

The Australian arm of international publisher Pearson has "swallowed" the online businesses of collapsed book retailers Borders and Angus & Robertson for an undisclosed sum. 


Already Penguin (part of the Pearson group), Hachette, and Simon & Schuster (three of the major publishers who have been fighting with Amazon over its e-book pricing structure), have established their own bookish.com website to sell directly to ebook consumers. Never mind that there are two competing spaces with the same name, book.ish and the book review site  http://www.bookish.com.au/.


What is the chance that these online businesses will only sell ebooks in the future? And will there be any chance that Australian bookshops will survive by offering their own books online in competition with the cheaper ebooks from Borders/A&R online?


Associated news stories:

Digital Books ...        Pearson picks up online Borders, A&R RACHEL DONKIN, The West AustralianJuly 5, 2011,...

Redgroup Retail (Aust) news ...      Independent book distributor to close, as REDgroup collapse, online sales hit sector...

Digital Books ...  Pearson Australia Group Agrees To Acquire REDgroup Online Posted at 9:15AM Monday 04 Jul...

Also in the news:

Digital Publishing (ebooks) ...     Digital technology is revolutionizing book publishing Published: Monday, July 04, 2011,...

Android e-reader ...   The Top 5 Best eReader apps for Android Tablets By Michael Koz...

Do we really want to curl up with an e-book? ...     eBooks: Publishers + authors...

eReader Sales Figures ...      Survey: Women like eReaders; men like their Tablets 5 Jul 2011 12:00Submit a...            

eReader Sales Figures ...       eReaders Survey: Ereaders Outpace Tablets in U.S. Adoption...

Bookstore eBook Dilemma ...    Harry Potter e-books plan worries bookstore owners...

DRM and ebooks ...    Here's How Harry Potter And "Pottermore" Could Force Amazon To Open Up The Kindle...

Future of the Book ..      Rowling develops landmark for digital publishing  By Olivia Solon, Daily Telegraph June 27,...

Future of the Book ...     Pottermore - glorified Harry Potter ebook store revealed Giving back to the fans By...

Future of the Book ...      JK Rowling's Pottermore is a landmark for digital publishing JK Rowling's Pottermore shows...

ebook self-publishing ...  How self-publishing came of age..   What used to be seen as a last resort is fast becoming the...

Libraries and ebooks ...    New Digital Offerings For Libraries As E-Book Lending Takes Off A new American Library...