Deepak Chopra speaks at Microsoft in January.

Amazon.com has added another big name, spiritual doctor Deepak Chopra, in its effort to expand beyond the business of selling books and into the world of actual book publishing.

The company’s publishing initiative has taken on added importance as the Amazon starts to offer Kindle e-books through its Amazon Prime subscription service, putting it at odds with some of the largest book publishers.

By publishing books itself, Amazon is in a better position to sidestep those objections and boost the library of e-books available via Amazon Prime.

Chopra and his brother Sanjiv Chopra have signed with Amazon to publish their memoir, “Brotherhood: A Tale of Faith, Big Dreams, and the Power of Persistence,” according to an Associated Press report. The news service reports that Deepak Chopra still is under contract for several books at Random House, where he has his own imprint.

Over the past year, Amazon has established a series of book publishing imprints for books in such genres as romance, mysteries and science fiction. Penny Marshall has also signed with Amazon to publish her memoir, and Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, has also signed with Amazon to publish his next book.

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