e-books

As the market for electronic book readers has grown, Apple's iPad has been pulling e-reader market share away from Amazon.com's Kindle, according to a new report from ChangeWave Research. The Kindle's market share has slipped to 47% from 62% in three months.

It has been a tumultuous year for Barnes & Noble, the country's largest bookseller, and its quarterly earnings report reflects that. Total sales for the quarter were $1.9 billion, a bit less of a gain than analysts had predicted, while earnings were a net loss of $12.6 million, also worse than expected.

While it probably should have done this long ago, Amazon will now let you send an e-book to anyone, Kindle owner or not. The online retail giant's move is aimed at undermining a similar one by rival Kobo -- and shows how hard it is to outmaneuver Amazon in the marketplace.

The bookseller had a "disappointing" quarter with comparable store sales down nearly 6%, but a deal with competitor Barnes & Noble to sell the Nook e-reader could help end the year on a more positive note.

Sales of e-books on Apple's iBookstore have made "barely a blip" in the digital book market. Will its new iBooks gift cards help to change this -- or will customers continue to use apps to allow them to read Amazon and Barnes & Noble e-books on their Apple devices?

E-book sales continue to climb. But the popularity of digital titles is forcing publishers to ask some thorny questions about pricing, negotiations with writers and the future of the publishing industry.

Barnes & Noble is hoping to boost holiday sales by testing new toy sections, following the "store-within-a-store" model, in five of its locations.

Instead of licensing the digital rights to Penguin, Ian Fleming's literary estate is making the e-book editions available directly itself. Getting the most out of the Bond brand is the estate's rationale for keeping the e-books in-house.

Attention book lovers: The Nook and Kobo electronic readers are finally joining the iPad and Sony e-readers at Walmart. But with so many e-reading devices available or soon to be available at the world's largest retailer, could a price war break out just in time for the holiday season?

Barnes & Noble successfully defended itself in a proxy fight with billionaire Ron Burkle, who wants to gain control over the troubled bookseller. But Burkle hasn't given up, and a new SEC "shareholder access" rule could help in his quest.