Ebook Sales Increase since christmas Dya

Michael Cader, founder of Publishers Lunch, an influential digital newsletter, says it's premature to call e-books a "game-changer" for publishing: "Lots of things are changing, but the game is still a lot like it was."

But the question for publishers and booksellers, including more than 350 independent stores that sell e-books in partnership with Google, is how fast changes are coming.

Without being specific, Russ Grandinetti, a vice president at online retailer Amazon (which dominates the markets for both e-readers and e-books), says its print and digital sales are both up, but "digital is growing significantly faster."

Downplaying print-vs.-digital questions, he adds, "For anyone who cares about books, it's never been a better time to be a reader. The choices have never been greater — what to read, when to read it, and how to integrate books into your daily life."

Barnes & Noble hopes its "Nook Boutiques" in its stores (703, down from 717 a year ago) can help sell its digital products with giveaways and instructions. Last week, it reported that Nook Tablet sales "exceeded expectations" but that it "over-anticipated" demand for its $99 Nook Simple Touch.

The chain's holiday sales of print books rose 4%, "the first increase in five years," says James Iannone, president of digital products. In part, he attributes that to the collapse of Borders, which went out of business last year, closing 600 stores. But he also says, "A lot of people still love physical books."

That was evident this holiday season, retailers' make-or-break time. In the weeks before Christmas, the number of titles on USA TODAY's best-seller list where the e-book outsold the hardcover or paperback edition declined — from 12 in the top 50 in early November to three the week before Christmas. Although there are gift cards for e-books, most people seem to like to wrap and inscribe books they give.