Meanwhile shares of peers such as Borders Group fell 6.7%, Books-A-Million 2.4% and Amazon.com 2.5%.

FORBES: Magazine Article

But picking them instead of fourth-quartile losers such as Bombay Co. or Books-A-Million is largely a matter of luck.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Or when the shares of Books-A-Million, a retailer, rose tenfold within three days on the back of an upgrade to its existing website.

ECONOMIST: Michael Lewis

In 2005, Microsoft announced that it would spend two and a half million dollars to scan a hundred thousand out-of-copyright books in the collection of the British Library.

NEWYORKER: Google��s Moon Shot

The Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk offers customers a vast selection of over one million books - including the most best-sellers in the UK - plus subscriptions to hundreds of popular newspapers, magazines and blogs.

ENGADGET: Hold the presses! Amazon UK selling more e-books than printed ones

Roger DiSilvestro is the chief executive of Athlon Sports Communications, which every year sells 1.1 million copies of such once-a-year sports books as Southeastern Conference Preview and National College Preview.

FORBES: An American original

Having already digitized twelve million books, including out-of-print titles, Google will have a far greater selection than Amazon or Apple.

NEWYORKER: Publish or Perish