For the last ten years there has been a new kid on the editorial block. And so far he hasn’t made a big deal out of being able to play with the big boys. But all that is about to change! It’s actually changing as we speak.

I’m talking about e-books and digital books, and if you haven’t created your e-book yet, you need to!

Electronic books have been a feature of the Internet since the birth of the World Wide Web, if not before. But in recent years, they have experienced a cusp and have crossed paths. E-books are the fastest growing segment of the publishing market. And it is a segment that seems to be independent of the economy.

That’s part of what has driven companies like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Chapters-Indigo to enter the e-book market with their own readers and book publishers. And of course, traditional publishers were not far behind.

With major bookstores like Amazon entering this market and allowing smaller publishers and authors to access their list directly, there has been a major shift in the market. E-books are not only cheaper and faster to produce, but there are now major forces in book retailing directly involved. The market is ready to take off. The market is primed for profitability.

And that profitability is about to be much higher than traditional publishing!

Of course, not everything is roses and sunshine. Traditional publishers have not been blind to the growth or potential of e-books. Many of them are in the process of converting their entire line to digital book format. Competition for the small author or publisher is on the horizon.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for you.

If you have a traditionally published book and still have the electronic version, you can easily convert the book to an e-book. You can sell it through Amazon and earn much higher royalties than you could by writing a traditionally published book (unless, of course, you’re Steven King). In fact, one thing you should do is check with your book publishers for your digital rights. Many of them have started converting their lists to e-book format to gain access to e-book channels and the profits involved.

But regardless of who publishes your book as an ebook, turning it into a digital book will extend the life of your book. That means more sales and more money in your pocket!

If you haven’t written your book yet, why not? The rise of the e-book market means that profiting from your e-book is now even easier. Creating a book is cheap and easy. It has always been publishing that has made it difficult to make a profit. But with the e-book market, publishing is easy.

That means that writing an eBook is within everyone’s reach. And yet, the great marketing benefits of book writing, namely positioning yourself as an expert, still remain. Put bluntly, the decision to create an e-book is child’s play.