Xlibris

Barnes & Noble announced Wednesday that it will enter the self-publishing business this summer with the launch of PubIt, a digital publishing service that will make it simple for hopeful authors to sell their books and content on its Nook e-reader.

When romance publisher Harlequin announced last month it was getting into the pay-to-publish game with a new imprint, it hit a real raw nerve. It unwittingly exposed that in publishing, money always talks first -- and the money is increasingly flowing toward the pay-to-publish model.