The important thing to note in this context is that by using the passive voice ‘to be sold’ the text does not say who is going to sell the digital works. To assume that the company itself is going to sell them is a significant change of meaning. That is the reason choices B, C, D, and E fall by the wayside. D in addition is a fragment. Then add to this the additional grammar requirement of correlative conjunction parallelism and you will find A glaring as the right choice, even dispelling the close E.
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A.
See highlighted.
Red means add, blue means remove.

According to me the correct sentence should either use the format "as either X or Y" or it should use "either as X or as Y". Only A and E does that.

IMO A,

IN E , it is not required after comma

Wats the OA

Answer is A. in E, as shown above, no need to have ", and it will". Other choices have a problem of location of the "as".

I chose A. In B: "either as....or", we need "as" after "or". In C: we have "as either"..."or as"-wrong. In D: the same problem, plus "selling" which is wrong. E affects the meaning of the sentence, because it says that the books will be sold under the "new digital imprint division".

i choose A. (E) breaks the paralelism. We dont use the structure " and it" when we have "it" as referent to the same subject "The largest trade-book publisher in the US". you can study more the grammar point in Ron's explanation here:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/sc- ... 19-15.html
hope it helps

works and it will sell them online as either electronic books or as

Reason 1
it and them create an ambiguous PN Issue.

Reason 2
either electronic books or as
Should be "either x or y" "not either x or y as"

Thats why C is wrong.

why would E be wrong, 'them'?

them seems to be referring to 'digital works'.

The catch here is the while the original simply says that the company will publish the digital works to be sold, it does not state that the company itself is going to sell them. May be the selling is going to be through some third party arrangement, whereas, E categorically states that the company will sell them; this is a deliberate distortion of the original intent and hence E is not to be preferred
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The largest trade-book publisher in the US has announced the creation of a new digital imprint division, under which it will publish about 20 purely digital works..what can be done with the works and how?

A. works to be sold online as either electronic books or correct, sentence is parallel
B. works to sell them online, either as electronic books or different meaning
C. works and it will sell them online as either electronic books or as awkward
D. works, and selling them online as either electronic books or as , and is wrong and awkward
E. works, and it will sell them online as either electronic books or same as D

--> A

I didn't even get my eyeballs to the end of the answer choices. If you look at just the first few words of (C), (D), and (E) you'll quickly get the sense they are on the wrong track.

(A) is what we want - simple and clear.

The intent of the text is that the company will (only) publish the works: it does not make it explicit that the co. itself is going to sell them. May be it may sell through some third party arrangement or give the rights to some Amazon.com. But meaning-wise, all choices, B through E mean to say that the company itself intends to sell the works, a factor that distorts the original meaning.
But this topic also tests correlative conjunctional //ism.

A) works to be sold online as either electronic books or ….. either electronic books or downloadable copies; correct correlative conjnl. //ism.

B) works to sell them online, either as electronic books or … either as x or y; //ism missing
C) works and it will sell them online as either electronic books or as; as either x or as y; // distorted.
D) works, and selling them online as either electronic books or as ; as either x or as y - //ism distorted.
E) works, and it will sell them online as either electronic books or ; as either x or y. //ism ok but intent distorted.
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Can anyone explain why C is wrong. the sentence says 'it will publish....' So shouldn't it be it will sell??
Even the idiom either or is maintained. I am a little confused over here.

The text says that the company will publish; it does not say that the company will sell. We cannot assume that the company will also sell just because the company will publish; probably it might be tempting to think so, because it is paralleling or rhyming well, but it distorts the content and concept of the original.
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Hi Daagh,

As far as meaning goes, I understand your logic about (A). However, what is the correct way to use "either/or" along with "as". Would (A) still be correct if it is rephrased as "works to be sold online either as electronic books or as" ..............Note here that I have placed "as" after "either" and have placed another "as" after "or".

Meaning wise, is either of the following same:
1) As either X or Y
2) Either as X or as Y

Thanks.

Yes. You are absolutely right; both are correct as per the tenets of correlative conjunctional use. What comes after Either should be repeated after Or
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C and D are out right away because "as either" should be "either as" to match "or as." B is out because "or" should have "as" after it to match "either as." These are very easy parallelism issues to catch.

The easiest way to get rid of E is to notice that "them" is trying to refer to something in the subordinate clause.

A's parallel structures and pronouns are all correct.
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The largest trade-book publisher in the US has announced the creation of a new digital imprint division, under which it will publish about 20 purely digital works to be sold online as either electronic books or downloadable copies that can be printed upon purchase.

A) works to be sold online as either electronic books or - CORRECT
B) works to sell them online, either as electronic books or - WRONG - either as X.... or Y (should be either as X or as Y)
C) works and it will sell them online as either electronic books or as - WRONG - as either X .... or as Y (should be as either X or Y)
D) works, and selling them online as either electronic books or as - WRONG - as either X....or as (should be as either X or Y)
E) works, and it will sell them online as either electronic books or - WRONG - same subject, so "it" is redundant. Moreover, never use a comma before and to link two dependent clauses.