Barnes & Noble creates a new self-publishing service

Nook Press gives authors up to 65 percent of their revenue and allows them to sell their titles anywhere.

Barnes & Noble is looking to expand its clout in the increasingly popular self-publishing world with a new branch called Nook Press.

Nook Press replaces B&N’s previous self-publishing service, which was titled PubIt! Nook Press offers authors a simplified process which will allow them to write, edit, and publish in one location. Also, they will now be able to ask others to read what they’ve written on Nook Press before publishing.

“We're thrilled to bring all the new and exciting features of Nook Press to existing PubIt! authors and new writers looking for a quick, effective and free one-stop self-publishing platform that delivers high-quality e-books to millions of book-loving Nook customers,” Theresa Horner, the vice-president of digital content at Nook Media, said in a statement.

Nook Press is partnered with the company FastPencil and uses some of FastPencil’s technology. Through the program, writers can assign a price to their titles that is anywhere between $0.99 and $199.99 and writers who have priced their books between $2.99 and $9.99 will get 65 percent of the list price. Authors who chose a price at or below $2.98, or more than $10, will get 40 percent. Writers will also be provided with sales reports on how their books are doing.

Once they’re published, books will be put in the Nook store within two or three days, though titles created through Nook Press can also be sold anywhere.

It's a crowded marketplace: Amazon has its self-publishing service, Kindle Direct Publishing, and even traditional publishers are getting in on it, as with Simon & Schuster’s new publishing house Archway Publishing, which the company created with Author Solutions Inc. Meanwhile, New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani chose a self-published book as one of the best titles of 2012 and a recent study revealed that self-publishing has almost tripled since 2006.