Like many in the world of self-publishing, I have been following with some interest the wars between the providers of the various e-book reading devices. A year ago I would have put my money, if I was a betting man, on Amazon's Kindle. Then Apple released it's new iPad. I know several individuals who own an iPad and they love it. My wife has a Barnes and Noble Nook and she loves it.
I love traditional paper books but as my wife tries to explain to me, "less clutter without all of those paper books lying around!" She likes to get rid of things and I like to keep them. I can sort of see her point about fiction but not non-fiction. Many of the non-fiction books I own are heavy in photographs, charts, drawings, etc. and I do not see them being as useful with any of the current e-reader devices currently on the market.
Still, the current Apple sales have to have Amazon concerned as does the fact that online division of Barnes and Noble had a good sales year with a strong increase in sales for e-books for the Nook. It will be interesting to see if a good price war begins to heat up to gain the controlling share of the e-book market.
Self-publishing authors who rely on the print-on-demand publishing business model but who do not have any of their titles in an electronic version would be well served to follow the e-Reader wars that surely must escalate in the coming years.
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