There are three times as many ereader devices now than just a single year ago, and Amazon has just announced that their own eBooks now have eight authors selling over a million eBooks.
Of course, this is a million eBooks total, none of the eBooks are million sellers on their own, while sites such as Project Gutenberg, The World Public Library, and The Internet Archive have each had a number of “million seller eBooks” if you will allow that term for non-profit organizations.
The first World eBook Fair, just a handful of years ago, gave out a million copies of “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, in just a single month, well before Amazon’s Kindle came out, or Apple’s iPad, or any of the revolutionary devices that are now powering the world of commercial eBooks.
This Monday, the Fourth of July, marks large 40th Anniversary celebrations around the world of the first eBook that started as a simple snowball, as it were, turning into an avalanche.
In just 40 years we have moved from being able to download an ordinary single text to millions and millions of eBooks, some lavishly illustrated, some complete with soundtrack, pictures that move, etc., and many other variations of look and feel.
eBooks are now available in dozens of formats for assortments of dozens of devices including iPods, iPhones, iPads, Kindles and nooks, as well as the various ereaders by Sony, etc.
There is no longer any doubt of the power of the eBook, quite literally the only thing to do now is to watch to see how the time passes as more and more eBooks are digitized.
Even Harry Potter’s author, J.K. Rowling, who has long stood firm of “no Harry Potter eBooks”, has this very week announced the opening of her very own internet site, complete with all seven Harry Potter books and a new reference book is scheduled, which she’s been working on for some time now.