U.S. book publishers smiling again as Kindle rivals emerge

A host of rivals to the market-dominating Kindle electronic reader has given newfound hope to publishers that they will finally be able to dictate their own terms after being at the mercy of Amazon.

Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. stable includes publisher Harper-Collins, could hardly contain his glee during an earnings call last week, although the box office success of “Avatar” probably also had something to do with it.

“Without content, the ever larger and flatter screens, the tablets, the e-readers and the increasingly sophisticated mobile phones would be lifeless,” Murdoch said. “Without content these ingenious and wonderful devices would be unloved and unsold.”

One new arrival in particular has Murdoch and other publishers excited — Apple's iPad tablet computer, which doubles as a full-color e-reader of books, newspapers and magazines.

“We're at a happy point, not just with Apple, but with Barnes & Noble and the 'Nook,' the 23 devices that have been launched, and Google Books seems to be just around the corner,” a source in the publishing industry said.

“Now we have that many more distribution outlets coming,” said the source, who requested anonymity out of fear of antagonizing Amazon, which may be facing competition but remains the undisputed e-book leader.

Although the iPad will not be available to consumers until the end of March, Apple is shaking up the digital book market like it did the music industry with the iPod and iTunes music store.

Unveiling the iPad, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced deals with five major publishers and an agreement that allows publishers to set higher prices while Apple settles for a 30-percent cut.

The so-called “agency model” is a departure from the way Amazon has been doing business with book publishers.

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