[Mycroft]

There are now over 270,000 titles available in the Kindle store, which is 3 times the number available when the Kindle was launched in November, 2007. I'm glad that the number of titles has steadily increased, but at this rate it will take some years before the store has one million titles, much less the "every book ever published" dream that Jeff Bezos talked about when the K2 launched.

Do you think the pace at which titles are added will increase, decrease or stay about the same?

 

[Gertie Kindle]

I think the pace will increase as more publishers realize (hopefully) the enormous potential of e-books.  When I bought Little Gertie the end of August, I think there were 130,000 titles.  In just over seven months, the number has more than doubled.  I think Random House added 8,000 titles in the last four months.  It also seems like our Kindle Klicking is making a difference.

 

[rho]

I think the pace will increase as more publishers realize (hopefully) the enormous potential of e-books. When I bought Little Gertie the end of August, I think there were 130,000 titles. In just over seven months, the number has more than doubled. I think Random House added 8,000 titles in the last four months. It also seems like our Kindle Klicking is making a difference.

what she said that actually is my feeling too but you put it much better than I would

 

[Forster]

IMO e-books are here to stay and the publishers are now figuring that out.  I predict exponential growth in the number of e-books available in the coming 3-5 years as everyone ramps up their infrastructure to bring to not only all new releases straight to Kindle/e-book formats but they start the arduous process of reformatting/re-releasing past works as well.

 

[kyliedork]

you can tell by the formating of the ebooks that they are in a rush to release as many as they can, quick as they can

 

[Kind]

And these numbers will only continue to increase!! 

 

[Athenagwis]

I agree with everyone else.  I think as people realize how hot these are, more will be added at an alarming rate.  It was just like when Music Compact Discs came out, music stores were filled to the brim with cassette tapes, and just a few cd’s on the walls.  Everyone said who needs cd’s anyway?  Then a few years later, you can’t find a cassette tape to save your life.  Same with cell phones, mp2 players, DVD players, and soon Blu-ray.  It just happens that way!  I am excited to see the progression of e-readers, and as soon as the environmentalists get on the schtick and tout it as “earth friendly” it will be smooth sailing from there.  (Don’t get me wrong I love my DTBs, but honestly imagine how much paper would be saved!!)

Cheers!
Rachel

 

[MAGreen]

My dad had made a comment about crops of pulp trees being used for books, but when I looked it up it only counted for about 18% of the paper used in books. The % was much higher for newspapers than books though and with newspapers they use a lot more recycled material too. Books though really are a scourge on the old growth. If we could just cut back on the paper use for books by 10-15% we could really save millions of trees every year! The Kindle and other eReaders could really make that happen! Especially if they can make a larger format the would work better with newspapers. The Kindle could save the world! WOO HOO! Super Kindle!

 

[Mike D. aka jmiked]

Are there any statistics as to the type of books causing this increase? Meaning how much of the increase is due to individual published titles, and how much is due to out-of-copyright duplicates and self-published books.

My stock response is that the increase is almost all the increase is self-published vampire-porn-romance novels. Obviously not entirely true, but sometimes it seems like it.

Of the tripling of books we've observed, I've seen an increase of about 15-20 books I'd purchase. I read mostly mystery and science fiction, and they don't seem to be very well represented there.

Mike

 

[drenee]

Mike, I agree.  I have bought so few books in the last few weeks because it seems like everything that is coming out is in the genres you mentioned. 
Oh well, I do not lack for reading material.
deb

 

[askenase13]

I have been impressend and pleased at the steady increase in Kindle books.  It grows by about 500 titles a day, or more.  I expect this to continue at about that pace.  Note, tthat Sci fi and fantasy have always been heavily represented in e-books (see Baen).

Adding back titles more than a few years old will be problematic, I think.  Nowadays, most books are written electronically (on the computer), transferred to the editors and publishers that way, and probably rarely see print before the first galley proofs.  Putting them into an e-book format, when they are already in a computer text format, would seem to be relatively easy and cheap.  (But, apparently, not without problems as Jim Butcher's recent novel indicates).  Older books may no longer be in a computer format (either not saved or never were), and need to be converted by scanning and OCR.  This is a slower and more labor intensive project.  I'm not all that convinced that the publishers will do it for older titles (even by popular authors like Cussler), since most buyers (like me) will be looking for a low price since you can get them in paperback for pennies (even on Amazon + shipping).  I do hope that they will address those older books, but I do see problems there, as I said.

 

[Edward C. Patterson]

To the Kindle authors: Remember with the increase to 270,000 titles offered, you need to change your quotient when figuring out your percentile using your book's ranking figure. For paperbacks you still use the 5,000,000 figure for your calculations.

And I must get cracking today so I can write one of them thar vampire-porn novels that I don't have among my titles (he he lol). But then again, I'm not self-published, but an "Indie author", "self-published" being a term that even the tradipubs are sunsetting - thank goodness.

Edward C. Patterson
author of stuff, but not a vampire bodice ripper among the batch . . . yet.

 

[MAGreen]

"His fangs glistened in the moonlight as he drew her to him with is mesmerizing gaze. Her breasts heaved, almost freeing themselves from her too tight bodice, as she tried fruitlessly to tear her eyes from his. A soft moan passed between her soft red lips as his fangs sank deep into the sweet, blue vein on her wrist."
Anyone want to give me $5 to find out what happens next?

 

[Forster]

"His fangs glistened in the moonlight as he drew her to him with is mesmerizing gaze. Her breasts heaved, almost freeing themselves from her too tight bodice, as she tried fruitlessly to tear her eyes from his. A soft moan passed between her soft red lips as his fangs sank deep into the sweet, blue vein on her wrist."
Anyone want to give me $5 to find out what happens next?

Somebody gets staked?!?!

amiright?

 

[intinst]

Somebody gets staked?!?!

amiright?

Is that what they are calling it now?

 

[Edward C. Patterson]

MAGreen:

$5.00 - I thought I paid for it when I downloaded Twilight for 9.99 (I think ^.00 now), and although I bought it as a set, I couldn't get passed the first chapter as I have a problem with books written in the present tense 1st person. About the only author I know that can sustain that is King (Talisman and Black House).

Ed Patterson

 

[MAGreen]

I'll give you all hint...the last line is...
"The ashes swirl in the wind that catches at the loose strands of her golden hair. As the sun warms her skin, she takes a deep breath and finally knows she is free."

And Ed...Bella never wore a bodice!

 

[Edward C. Patterson]

Madonna's autobiography?

Ed P

Well, in my neck of the woods we call Bidoce-rippers, jockstrap-ripers . . . hey, but that's the flavor of the stew when the blood is pink.

 

[Anju]

nope I won't give you $5 for that !

 

[meljackson]

MAGreen, let us know if you lower it to .99 and I might think about it lol.

Melissa