DUH!

The  Association of American Publishers released the sales statistics for 2009 today.  According to the 86 publishers who participate in the AAP's statistics program and Bureau of the Census data, book sales declined another 1.8 percent last year. That follows a 2.6 percent decline from 2008. 

Not surprising were the results from the e-book category. According to AAP, in 2009 the market grew 176.6%.  

With book readers like Kindle and Nook? With the release of devices like Apple's iPAD, and others sure to follow... is this the death knell for books, newspapers and magazines in printed form?

Not likely, or at least not any time soon, but the strength of growth in the e-book and e-pub categories should remind us that complacency is not an option.

Simply reformatting a publication for reading by electronic media players is not an option that should be pursued for the long term. This is not, as the old saying goes, SSDD.

The format for this new media needs to change, and there are people out there making that change. VOOK is an example of the media in transition. The Sophie Project is an example of open-source multimedia publishing tools that are helping to lead the transition.