Association of American Publishers

Almost everyone in the book business will acknowledge that we are in the midst of the most interesting, challenging and promising period in the industry's history.

Just how eagerly is Google wooing publishers these days? One indicator: At this year’s BookExpo America, the largest trade book fair in the U.S., Google (NSDQ: GOOG) doesn’t just have a booth presence—it has executives moderating three of the panels during the week.

Publishers, booksellers, bloggers, and librarians from around the world will be crammed into New York City’s Javits Center starting Monday to discover hot new books, meet authors, and bat around the latest digital strategies.

Three major French publishers filed a lawsuit against Google on May 6 for alleged trademark violations by its Google Book Search.

Powerful continuing growth of books on digital platforms both eBooks and Downloaded Audiobooks are highlights of the February 2011 sales report

MINNEAPOLIS—Amanda Hocking, a 26-year-old author in Austin, Minn., who's considered the biggest e-book seller in the world, has signed with an ink-and-paper publisher for a book contract reportedly worth more than $2 million.

A federal judge has rejected the 2008 settlement reached between Google Inc., authors and publishers that would allow the Internet search company to make millions of books available online, according to reports from several major news outlets this afternoon, including the Wall Street Journal.

Sales of electronic books in January increased by more than 115 percent compared to the same time the year before, a report released by the Association of American Publishers said on Thursday.

Two years? Three years? Five years? It's a parlor game in publishing circles to speculate how long it will take before e-books constitute a majority of their industry's sales in the U.S.

According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), U.S. publishers' book sales across all platforms increased 2.4 percent in December 2010 versus December 2009 ($1.58 billion versus $1.54 billion), and 3.6 percent for all of 2010 versus 2009 ($11.67 billion versus $11.25 billion). Virtually every book publishing category showed growth in one or both comparisons, with e-books continuing to post triple-digit percentage gains.

While not a surprise to anyone who had followed the book retailer's recent financial struggles, the official announcement yesterday that Borders Group had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy still caused a stir throughout the book publishing industry, as publishers, retailers, authors and consumers speculated about what this development could mean for the future of brick-and-mortar bookstores.