Book Sanctuary

Since the New Year there has been a steady increase of media coverage regarding eBooks. Two such stories that have received prominent media coverage are:

Amazon Kindle eBook Sales

A major story refers to sales of eBooks via the Amazon Kindle store. According to Amazon figures, eBook sales now exceed those of paperbacks on their US website; a further progression since eBook overtook hardback sales last year. The Kindle has been available as a device in the US for over 3 years; the first version of the device released on November 19^th 2007. Not only did the initial model sell out incredibly quickly, but subsequent models have continued to sell in large numbers.

The release of the latest model has started the trend in the UK, with Christmas sales apparently being high. The take-up of eBooks and relevant devices in the UK is, unsurprisingly, a few years behind the US. Whereas people reading Kindles on the train or bus is extremely common in the US, so far I have only seen one person with a Kindle on my regular train commute; clearly the idea of e-readers while travelling has a way to go yet.

Naturally this news continues to keep publishers and booksellers busy, as technology doesn’t stop. At the Digital Book World conference in New York publishers were predicting parity between eBook and print sales by 2014.

Booker Judges to use Kindles

Also in the news, Booker prize judges will be given Kindle devices to help them work through the submissions for this year’s prize. It is important to note that judges will receive both physical and digital copies; giving them extra options, especially when travelling. The fact that it is the Kindle that is being used is yet more publicity for the Amazon behemoth, and another blow for rival e-reader devices on the market.

A short summary of both these stories can be found in the following article from the The Guardian

Since the launch of Book Sanctuary in late August, we’ve been busy working on the website and decided that it was a good opportunity to provide an update with the latest news:

Book Store on the way – We are currently in the final application process of setting up our comprehensive book store functionality; we will be utilising a major payment service to ensure that the experience will be as easy, and secure, as possible. Our plan is to launch the full functionality of the store in the next month, which will include secure transactions for all major debit and credit cards. We are of course continuing to seek submissions for the launch of the store.

More blog updates – The blog continues to be updated regularly with thoughts and opinions on a variety of subjects. Since launch the functionality of the blog has improved; comments are available, and we have just added RSS subscription functionality on the blog and throughout the website.

More website FAQs on the way – Although we have FAQs on the website regarding the submissions process and how to read eBooks, we are aware that we do not have articles explaining how to use the different areas of the website. This will be remedied in the near future, with articles explaining how to register, post on the forums and troubleshoot issues.

If you experience any problems on the website, we are always happy to assist so please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . As always submissions are welcome at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .