Google gains massive publisher support for its Editions bookstore.

Japan Today is reporting some rather surprising news about Google’s upcoming Editions digital bookstore.

According to the site, officials from Google are claiming support from over 25,000 authors and publishers.  This brings Google’s sum total to over 4 million books, including out of print works.

As Amazon and Apple fight for e-book readership, the publishing industry as a whole is enjoying the largest growth that it has seen since 2002.  No doubt that having yet another player in the game is a good read for them.

It is worthy to note that the 25,000 number is likely to include a number of smaller, lesser-published authors.  From the start, Google has catered the service to be a welcoming place for smaller, independent publishers and authors.  Regardless of any details, however, it is a generally welcome idea in the industry to have more available outlets.