You might call them depressing statistics, but they are facts and worth keeping in mind when you contemplate publication. The short story is this: Less than 2% of published books will be commercially viable. For a full breakdown of the stats: http://jessiemac.com/blog/2010/08/09/i-am-a-writer-should-i-get-a-book-deal-self-publish-or-self-distribute/

The following article takes a broad look at the publishing world today, but what I think is of particular interest is the section on the Kindle. Those not familiar with the ins and outs of publishing world will find the rest of the article worthwhile: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/08/23/seth-godin-and-print-publishing/

A Wall Street Journal article has a noteworthy little nugget about what ebooks are doing: “Among early adopters, e-books aren’t replacing their old book habits, but adding to them. Amazon, the biggest seller of e-books, says its customers buy 3.3 times as many books after buying a Kindle, a figure that has accelerated in the past year as prices for the device fell.”

With a trend like that, who is going to worry about ebooks? Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575448093175758872.html