Random Digitization
February 1, 2009
The New York Times reports that in an effort to reap benefits from an expanding e-book market, Random House is planning to release an additional 6,000 digitized works, bringing its electronic library up to approximately 15,000 titles, the Huffington Post reports. Random House CEO Markus Dohle said that “more people everyday are enjoying reading in the electronic format and Random House wants to extend our reach to them with more of our books.” Authors such as John Updike and Harlan Coben will have a digital presence within months, company officials stated. Matt Shatz, Random House’s vice president for digital operations, said 2008 e-book sales have increased by triple digit percentages. Shatz credits, in part, Amazon.com’s Kindel reader, although he declined to specify actual numbers. According to industry estimates, e-books occupy a one percent or less market share of overall sales.