Barnes & Noble Gets a Time Inc. Vet to Run Its Newsstand

Barnes & Noble wants to catch up to Amazon (AMZN)–and suddenly, Apple (AAPL)–in the e-reader race. This means the company needs its own digital newsstand.

So the bookseller has nabbed a magazine guy to run it. Barnes & Noble (BKS) has hired Jonathan Shar, a 15-year veteran of Time Warner’s (TWX) Time Inc. to lead what it is calling its “Digital Newsstand and Emerging Content, Barnes & Noble.com” unit.

Bad name, good idea. Shar has handled print duties–he ran consumer marketing for Sports Illustrated–and digital for Time Inc. Most recently, he was GM for CNNMoney.com, the publisher’s joint venture with Turner.