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E-books catching on with readers

It seems the time is right for these advances. E-book sales are seeing a significant upswing, said Hugh McGuire, CEO of Book Oven, an online company that builds Web tools for publishing e-books and print-on-demand titles.

"The U.S. wholesale e-book market was about $50 million in 2008 (retail would be about double), but it's growing exponentially," McGuire said, citing figures from the International Digital Publishing Forum, a group that tracks the e-book market. McGuire said that in the first quarter of 2009, the wholesale market was about $25.8 million, an increase of 53 percent over the previous quarter.

McGuire concedes that e-books are only 1 to 3 percent of the overall publishing market. But the success of the Kindle, and moves by Google -- who, along with Sony, is offering free titles online -- indicate a bright future, he said.

"I would expect 20 percent of book sales to be digital by 2014, but some have predicted an even bigger percentage by then," he said. "Twenty percent of the current book market is something like $5 billion."

That raises the question: What will happen to printed books?

"E-books will gain, especially in the indie publishing market, making it far easier for a company or individual to sell a quirky, unique book for little money and see profits almost immediately," said Jessup, the Pennsylvania author and e-book reader.

For e-books to reach their full potential, McGuire said, a shift in thinking is in order.

"[Publishers] have long operated in an environment where printing a book was expensive," he said. "Shipping it around, stocking it in stores and selling it all represented significant costs. They still think in this mindset."

Publishers need to realize that e-books can get titles to more readers for less money, he said.

"Successful publishers will be those who embrace the benefits of e-books and pay more attention to what their readers want."