Ebooks Give Treebooks a Push

At least one publisher is betting on the idea that ebooks can help traditional  retailers sell books.

Algonquin has started a promotion at 300 Barnes & Noble stores which offers a discounted ebook to customers who purchase an Algonquin trade paperback, according to The New York Times.

Algonquin plans a similar promotion in October. Customers who buy a hardcover copy of "When She Woke," by Hillary Jordan will receive a digital version of the book for free.

“We spend a lot of time lately trying to figure out how to sell books in this new world order,” Elisabeth Scharlatt,  Algonquin's publisher, told the Times. “And particularly to help booksellers to sell hardcover books, which seems increasingly difficult. So this seemed like one way of calling attention to a book by giving an incentive to the customer.”

The Times reports publishers are concerned about declining traffic at physical bookstores as more ebooks sales are made online. If physical bookstores disappear, publishers worry their books will not have an opportunity to be discovered by customers who wander into a store without knowing what they want to buy.

This month's Algonquin promotion lets customers choose a trade paperback from a list of 12 titles, and then buy an ebook for $3 from a separate list of 12 titles.