Next chapter: Target joins book battle

Last update: October 20, 2009 - 12:20 AM

Target Corp. has thrown itself into a heated price war on books expected to be top sellers.

The Minneapolis-based discounter said Monday it will offer some of this season's most anticipated book titles at $8.99, in line with recent moves by Walmart.com and Amazon.com.

Target says the price applies to pre-orders on Target.com of such books as "Breathless" by Dean Koontz, "Ford Country" by James Patterson and "Under the Dome" by Stephen King.

The book battle started Thursday, when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its website, Walmart.com, would charge just $10, with free shipping, for such upcoming hardcover releases as Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" and John Grisham's "Ford County," 60 percent or more off the regular cost.

Amazon.com, the largest online bookseller, then matched the prices. The fight became even fiercer when the two competitors lowered the prices even further to $9 by Friday.

All three sellers are almost certainly taking a loss on the sales of these books to bring in customers. Retailers usually pay just more than half of a book's cover price.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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