The E-book Opportunity
Less certain is the course book publishers should take on this new ocean of e-ink. Opinions range from wait-and-see (as counseled by guest columnist Rudy Shur, founder and publisher of Square One Publishers, to independent publishers in the May/June issue of Book Business), to cautious acceptance (the majority position, as publishers slowly move away from "windowing," or delaying the release of e-books, to a simultaneous release of new best-sellers in both print and electronic formats), to enthusiastic embrace ("enriched" or "amplified" e-books developed for the iPad). All point to the same numbers to justify their position: e-book revenue in the hundreds of millions and growing steadily, yet still only comprising a small percentage of the $80 billion book market.