I did a search and found an article about Amazon selling more ebooks then hard cover books, but the article I found said there was an important caveat and that was that Amazon didn't disclose how ebook sales compared to their entire book sales, meaning hardcover plus paperback. I suspect the news article you heard also was comparing to hardcover only and didn't take paperbacks into account. As expensive as hardcover books are, I would expect paperback sales are much higher.

Like you, jasdip, I don't think anything can replace actually holding a book in your hands!

dorchester publishing is one of the companies. It's talking about books of all kinds, not just hardcover per se.

Some of our Canadian ones have followed suit, apparently.

Sad, really to think that upcoming generations may not hold and feel the pleasure of a physical book.
Gone the way of penmanship, math and grammar skills.

I am all for progress but not at the loss of our history. It's pretty hard to hand down a family kindle where as my family bible has everyone's handwritten notes in it. My mom's cookbook is full of her personalization on her favorite recipes.

What can possibly replace hearing that crackling of the spine that accompanies the first time you open a new book, or the smell of the leather in a wonderful library? Or the spots on the pages where teardrops fell on the pages of a tearjerker?

I'm glad for the saving of the trees and the green aspect of electronic books but when you really think about it that has little to nothing to do with it. Books can be shared, I pass mine on to friends who in turn pass theirs on to me, we loosely coordinate what we are buying in that way. I'm quite sure that the publishers figured out that they will sell more with a Kindle or a Nook, or can one 'share' or forward that ebook on to a friend?

textbook wise paper books will become dinosaurs in a very short time. thou costs for textbooks will not change, as publishers do charge the same price for ebooks. this aspect of publishing is going to suffer as it is FAR easier to share or steal ebooks, equating to loss of profits quickly. in fact college students who pay thousands for books a semester are relishing books going to ebooks. :-) we spend $5000 a yr for textboooks for my DH (mechanical engineering), only buying from asian printers too, costs that we pay out of pocket because tuition is barely covered. ~ liz

I'm sure the Kindle is great, but I go to the library every other Saturday, get 5-6 books, free, so I don't need one. I would hate to see paper books go altogether!

Hardback books may one day disappear. They're expensive to print and heavy to ship and people would rather wait for the softcover version.

I've written and published eight books, and all of those have been bound in what's called a "perfect binding" which is a softcover book that's economical to produce but longlasting.

Speaking as a big bibliophile (lover of books), I don't think "real" books will ever go away. However, the publishing world is changing very quickly, and if you look at the NY Times best seller list (as I often do), 98% of the authors on that "list of success" are celebrities, well-known political figures and/or famous (previously published) authors.

It's mighty tough for an unconnected newbie to break into the world of big house publishers. Most opt for self-publishing. BTW, authors make 10% of the book's wholesale price for every title sold. In other words, a book that sells on Amazon for $20 makes $1 for its author.

Authors are the original starving artists.

Rose

Here is a link that might be useful: Writing ain't easy or profitable

the one thing I think about with the Kindle is...if you buy/download books to it ...and a few years go by...they become obsolete...then you will lose all those books.

I like keeping my books...although I will say...I'm soon going to have to build a library..8)

patti