[ATDrake]

Hey, if being downmarket makes decent-quality sf/fantasy/historical mystery more widely available at lower prices vs those high-brow litfic/thriller NY Times official bestsellers, I'm all for it.

I only wish what I read could be had as readily and cheaply and on such good terms as all those Harlequin/Mills & Boon/Samhain/Ellora's Cave e-books are generally offered for.

It's like a win-win. People who want to pretend they're reading only the deeply meaningful serious books can hide their library on an e-reader, and perhaps fewer overtly trashy paper books needing to be printed will result in a drop in the sad and wasteful deaths of trees.

I see no immediately visible downside to this trend (unless the publishers of said downmarket genres decide to jack up the prices, since they're apparently making very good sales from the demand).