Although there was less hype about electronic publishing at BookExpo this year, that doesn't mean the sector isn't showing growth and development. First-quarter e-book sales were up, and the now renamed Palm Digital Media showed off eReader.com, its redesigned e-book retail site, and eReader, formerly known as the Palm OS reader.
While attending BookExpo Steve Potash, president of the Open e-book Forum and e-vendor OverDrive, told PW that the e-pub contingent at this year's show, compared to previous ones, was "smaller," but he stressed that the that businesses that did attend were "more substantial." The Open eBook Forum reports that 421,955 e-book units were sold in the first quarter of 2004, an increase of 46% over the same period in 2003. First quarter e-book revenue was $32.2 million, up 28% over the same period in 2003.
Palm Digital Media was acquired last year by PalmGear, a unit of PowerbyHand, a software technology firm that offers a variety of applications for Palm and Pocket PC OS devices. Earlier this month the company launched the redesigned eReader.com site, offering 13,000 e-book titles. At the BEA, the company was also promoting eReader, the now redesigned e-book reading application that functions on both Palm and Pocket PC reading devices and Windows and Macintosh platforms.
Potash noted that large public library systems, which are adopting print e-books as well as audio e-book downloading, are helping to drive growth in the e-publishing sector. "Libraries let readers experiment with books. They don't have to pay and they see how easy it is. They're educating and building the e-book marketplace."
