The E-Book Revolution Is Over; E-Books Win

Harry Potter and friends, shown as they are about to zap traditional publishing.

I don't think there can be any clearer sign that publishing has changed for good and e-books are king than this: J.K. Rowling has announced that she will be self-publishing Harry Potter e-books. I guess anyone who thinks that self-pubbing is a sign that your books can't make it in the marketplace is going to have to rethink.

The e-books will be sold through her new web site, Pottermore, which means she'll get to keep all the revenue. I suppose she'll make some sort of deal with Amazon and Apple so that Kindle and iPad users will have easy access to her books, but nothing's been said about that so far. Joe Konrath has some good thoughts on the matter here; he sees it as the continuation of the death spiral for traditional publishing. He's right.

Be careful walking around Manhattan during the next few weeks; falling publishers could be a health hazard.