Apple has signed a deal with the largest distributor of independent publishers to sell electronic versions of it books on the new device, report Motoko Rich and Brad Stone on Media Decoder.
The Perseus Books Group, a large independent publisher that also distributes works from 330 other smaller presses including Grove Atlantic, Harvard Business School Press, Zagat and City Lights Books, signed a deal last week with Apple, following five of the six biggest publishers that have already signed agreements with Apple.
Amazon.com, the largest online seller of printed books and the biggest e-book seller in the United States, has put pressure on publishers that have not yet signed deals with Apple to refrain from doing so. Amazon, which makes the Kindle e-reader, holds about 90 percent of the e-book market. With Apple’s iPad coming on the scene, Amazon is fighting to keep as much of its market lead as possible.