Ed West, an editor in the book publishing field, from Garden City, Michigan read the recent article about Barnes & Noble projecting that industry-wide sales of print books are expected to decline (see "Books Expected to Decline by One Third") and had this to say.

One source does not make for a complete picture.  It cannot be ruled out that sometimes investors are told what they want to hear.  I recall an article on ICv2 where a computer game maker said that "kids don't read anymore," they play games such as those his company produces.  This is highly self-serving.  Now, I ask you to examine this report.

And what does it mean when Amazon tells us it sells more e-books than hardcovers?  It means this.

I suspect if one throws in cookbooks and trashy romance novels into the e-book category that the number goes a little higher.  As a long-time insider in the book publishing business, I can already see: "How Did the E-Book Bubble Burst?" coming up on the horizon.  And the usual explanations: "Just because people could buy a lot more books because they were cheaper in the e-book format, it didn't mean they gained a single minute more to read them all."

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.