Publishers getting on the e-book wagon

jkOnTheRun is linking to a BusinessWeek article today the hints that gradual changes are afoot in the publishing business.  This year Google, Random House and HarperCollins will move more that 50,000 books into e-formats.  The key is going to be the distribution model.  Right now e-tailers like Amazon require you to download an ebook…obviously. Apple’s success with iTunes and Sony’s forthcoming Reader are going to challenge thi somewhat.  In another post JK writes that:

Author Scott Sigler first made news when he decided to release his book EarthCore as a weekly podcast last year. Sigler produced the audio book himself and released it a few chapters at a time via podcast and garnered 10,000 subscribers. The innovative author has now achieved a "second first" by putting the audio novel on the iTunes Music Store. The entire 20 episode audio book can be purchased from iTunes for $9.99 and it will be interesting to see how well this sells. It could pave the way for other authors to self-publish in audio format.

The publishing industry is changing.  You can bet that many people, both authors and publishers, will be watching these ventures.