Barnes and Noble to Drop Nook Sales and App in the UK

Yesterday afternoon we received an email from the Barnes and Noble Nook team announcing that as

of 15 March 2016, they will no longer be selling digital editions in the United Kingdom. Here are the relevant portions of that email:

We are writing to announce an important change to our NOOK Service that will affect NOOK Press vendors publishing content in the United Kingdom. Effective March 15, 2016, NOOK will no longer sell digital content in the United Kingdom. The NOOK Store on NOOK devices sold in the UK, on the NOOK Reading App for Android, and at www.nook.com/gb will discontinue operations.

NOOK customers in the UK will continue to have access to purchased NOOK Books until May 31, 2016. After this date, NOOK has arranged for the award‑winning Sainsbury's Entertainment on Demand to provide access to customers' purchased NOOK Books.

There is no change to NOOK Service or NOOK Press in the United States...

We'd like to thank you for continuing to be a part of the NOOK Press community and sharing our passion for books. We will try to make the transition as smooth as possible for you and our customers who have purchased your titles in the UK.

We've redacted some items that are related to publishers outside the United States and how this change will effect those publishers.

There was no indication as to why Barnes and Noble will so abruptly discontinue service to the United Kingdom or why readers will not be able to access titles they've purchased after 31 May 2016. For those in the UK who have purchased the actual Nook eReader, there's no further information as to what the functionality of your device will be. 

For readers who have purchased Grave Distractions Publications titles in the UK, we apologize that Barnes and Noble has pulled the rug out from under you. We are contractually bound to the terms and service agreements of our digital vendors and other than voice our concerns, there's not much we can do about their decision. We also suggest that you contact Barnes and Noble with any questions and concerns you might have about these changes.

As for Grave Distractions Publications, we will still continue to distribute our titles in the United Kingdom via Amazon, Google Books, Gardeners, and other ancillary eBook vendors.

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