In a recent survey, Retrevo, a gadget review website, discovered that 21 percent of those they surveyed said they are planning to buy an e-book reader this year. Of those who were canvassed and responded positively about purchasing a digital book reader, 26 percent were men and 17 percent were women. A full ten percent said they would ask for a reader for a holiday gift, more than would be asking for MP3 players and video game players. They favor the Kindle to the Sony Reader by a 2 to 1 margin.

The largest percentage of those who plan to purchase e-book readers are men under 35 years of age, with household incomes of more than $100,000, and who live in the Northeast.

The Kindle's wide acceptance and its promotion by Amazon give it a current advantage. But more digital readers are scheduled for release within the next year, and rumors about Apple launching a Tablet abound.

In recent times only about 2.5 percent of all books sold have been sold in a digital format.  However if the survey results presented by Retrevo are true, that percentage will quickly grow. Authors and publishers must take seriously the need to make books available in the various digital formats, in addition to having inventories of books and offering print-on-demand, in order to keep up with the changes in the way consumers desire to obtain content.

It is unclear whether one format will eventually dominate the field, as happened with the iPod, or if there will be several major players for the foreseeable future. At Dorrance Publishing and all of our imprints, we make our books available for downloading on the Kindle and Sony Reader and continue to expand the ways in which we publish books. The marketplace transforms itself so rapidly these days, a company cannot afford to wait and catch up without risking being left behind indefinitely.