The battle for the premier spot in the online bookselling world heated up this week between Barnes & Noble Inc and Amazon.com Inc, the two companies currently locked in a legal squabble (CI No 3,162). Barnes & Noble has announced a three year electronic commerce pact with Lycos Inc, who will provide the online retailer with its search engine facilities. Coinciding with Barnes & Noble’s announcement, Amazon turned to author John Updike to write the first paragraph of an online murder mystery, Murder Makes The Magazine. Then 44 other writers will contribute a paragraph, one every day, before Updike wraps the story up in a final paragraph. The story will work as a competition with prizes at the end.
