Barnes & Noble.com gets a digital makeover

NEW YORK Barnes & Noble’s Web site is getting a makeover with more pizzazz than ever before, the company said Monday

Beginning this week, the online site, known as bn.com, will have a comprehensively revamped home page, including a running scroll of featured releases, and a new feature called Barnes & Noble Review, an online magazine that is updated daily with reviews and interviews.

"We wanted our site to have more motion, more content and more interactivity, and to have more of a sense of community," ceo of bn.com Marie Toulantis told the Associated Press recently.

The groundbreaking premiere spotlights an interview with Philip Roth and a review of his new novel, "Exit Ghost," by the president of the National Book Critics Circle, John Freeman.

In the past five years, the bookseller’s online sales have doubled. The site overhaul is much needed, the company says, in order to keep up with competition. The Web site offers one-of-a-kind highlights, including "One on One" podcasts and a "See Inside" program that allow readers to browse through an interactive version of a book.

Another innovation is "Live at Barnes & Noble", which allows online visitors to view webcasts of readings at member stores if they cannot physically be there. Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report”, Alice Sebold and Richard Russo are all said to make scheduled appearances in the near future.