Recent weeks have brought us several stories about the trade book publisher Random House considering to sell books via the Internet thus creating a sales path that avoids giving a large percent of sales to retailers.

No large pubisher could survive (presently) without having a Barnes & Noble or Amazon type company doing the heavy selling. However, over time, it is not crazy to think that large publishing houses might be able to keep the bulk of every sale because of ecommerce initiatives aborning.

I recently read an interview with Jane Friedman, president and chief executive of HarperCollins. Two points were made by Friedman in a 10 November Wall Street Journal story:

1. "The Internet is a marketer's dream. For the first time you can actually know the people buying your books. It's much easier to reach people who like mushrooms by going to a mushroom site than by appearing on the 'Today' show....The more we can advertise directly to the consumer who is really interested in what we're offering, the greater sales we'll enjoy."

2. WSJ Interviewer: "Will there be any fallout if you sell directly [online]." Ms. Friedman: "None. If retailers are publishing books, publishers may have to become retailers. We need to get our books into the hands of readers to make our industry even healthier."

And this in the WSJ yesterday from Peter Olson, chairman and CEO of Random House Worldwide: "Random House is evaluating 'pricing and distribution models' a strategy that could one day include selling books directly to consumers online."

The Internet has changed many industries of which travel is the best example. Could the Net be getting ready to change traditional book selling --- the answer is a definite yes!