Why E-Books Are as Big as Gutenberg

Including 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'Catcher in the Rye'

(NEWSER) - The e-book market has spiked from 0.6% in 2008 to 6.4% in 2010, or $878 million in sales, yet you still won't be able to find certain hugely popular books in the new format. The Street rounded up a list of eight classics that can be found only on dead trees. More»

Publishers group says it was strong-armed to accept new terms

(NEWSER) - Amazon is playing hardball with a book distributor that refused to give it a bigger share of the pie. The company's Kindle store yanked some 5,000 e-books after Independent Publishers Group, which represents hundreds of independent publishers, refused the online giant's demands. "They decided they didn't like the terms we offered, and we said, 'We're not going to change,' and they removed them," IPG chief Mark Suchomel tells the Chicago Tribune . More»

Ebook publishing program expands lending library

(NEWSER) - Amazon is seeing big results from a new ebook-lending program. Its new KDP Select program, which allows independent writers and publishers to cash in on borrowed books, saw 300,000 borrowed titles last month. The program, allotted $500,000 last month, provided authors with $1.70 per borrow, with the top 10 KDP Select writers scoring some $70,000, TechCrunch reports. This month, the fund has grown to $700,000, the company says, thanks to the Kindle Lending Library's success. More»

But it's only for those who belong to its Prime program

(NEWSER) - Starting today, Kindle users who are Amazon Prime subscribers—and no one else—will have access to Amazon’s new ebook lending library. The library won’t be available to those using Kindle apps on other devices, and it’s opening with a fairly small selection of books: just over 5,000, the Wall Street Journal reports. That’s because none of the top six US publishers are participating in the plan. More»

Flash lovers, rejoice!

(NEWSER) - Surely you’ve heard by know that Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet isn’t an iPad killer . But it does have a few desirable traits that the iPad doesn’t. The Huffington Post lists six of them:

• It supports Flash: Many iPad and iPhone users wish that Apple would take a page from Amazon’s playbook when it comes to this.
• It’s cheaper: A Kindle Fire (which does not offer 3G) will run you $199. For the cheapest iPad 2 model, which also does not offer 3G, you’ll shell out $499.