Book buyers, soon you’ll be able to pay by the page.

With its new Amazon Pages service, Amazon.com Inc. plans to let customers buy portions of a book – even just one page – for online viewing. A second program, Amazon Upgrade, will offer full online access when a traditional text is purchased.

Both services are expected to begin next year.

For Amazon Pages, the cost for most books would be a few cents per page, although readers likely would be charged more for specialized reference works. Under Amazon Upgrade, anybody purchasing a paper book also could look at the entire text online, at any time, for a “small” additional charge, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said. For instance, a $20 book might cost an extra $1.99.

Copyright holders would determine whether the pages could be printed or downloaded.