Cappelen Damm and Digitalbok.no Launch E-books

Digitalbok.no, owned by Cappelen Damm, has launched a broad range of e-books, sold for much less than what printed books cost in Norway. The books are in the e-pub format, which can be read by the majority of e-readers, and using Bluefire Reader, they can also be read on an iPad.

“We’re very happy that we set a price level that’s much lower than those suggested by other industry players previously,” says Tom Harald Jenssen, CEO ofr Cappelen Damm. 

The lower price is due to limiting the profit level, something that Jenssen thinks is important for e-book sales to succeed in the Norwegian market. 

“Even if e-books count for only 1-2 percent for the total turnover of books internationally, we expect this will increase quickly in the future,” says Jenssen. “It’s important for us to be able to offer something good for readers who have long been asking for an e-book initiative in Norway.”

As for the lower profits for book sellers, Jenssen says that it costs much less to sell an e-book than a printed book, “so it’s reasonable that their piece of the pie should match.”

For now there are 500 Norwegian e-books and over 30,000 English titles available for sale.

“This is just the beginning,” says Jenssen. “We’re investing a lot in the development of the Norwegian e-book market.”