Where Will Digitization Take Us? We Don’t Know for Sure, But We’re Heading There Fast. It’s certainly been a huge week for Kobo as the surprise new Vox takes on Kindle Fire with sub-$200 tag and their new deals propel them into the top tier of global ebook competitors. This despite claims that Tablet Publishing is Failing.

In other news, Future  Publishing racks up more than 2m Apple Newsstand downloads in 4 days, it’s the e-Book Cover Design Awards, September 2011, and Really, New York Times??

Here’s What to Do if Your Ereader Is Lost or Stolen, and if you find it again you can try Reading a Book Versus a Screen: Different Reading Devices, Different Modes of Reading?
And finally, just in case you haven’t heard, Julian Barnes triumphs at last.

Having already kneecapped bookshops the world over and walked away with a smirk on its face, oblivious to their cries for help as it gets into its car with tinted windows and waits, ever so patiently, for libraries to step out of their houses, just so it can get the perfect shot, Amazon has realised that the real problem lies with the supply side of things: as long as people who aren’t Amazon are publishing books, people who also aren’t Amazon can potentially make money, or at least stand in the way of Amazon making money, by selling those books.

You know the Kindle has become truly ubiquitous when even WH Smith has to acknowledge it in some manner. Startled out of its cosy seat in front of the fire with a nice hot chocolate and a copy of Louie Spence’s autobiography lying face down on its lap, and just as it was dozing off too, the venerable high street newsagent, stationer, James Corden-enabler (Cordenabler?) and yes, alright, technically bookshop, has begun selling e-books and compatible readers in partnership with Canadian e-reader manufacturers Kobo.

This week has seen plenty publishing happenings at the Frankfurt Book Fair, as Children’s Publishing Goes Digital, there’s Epstein on the future of the publishing industry, and Mrs Book, can I introduce you to Mr Games?  You can read lots more from some familiar faces over at the blog.

Back in the UK, interesting moves are afoot as WH Smith launches ‘Kindle killer’, this of course being a deal with social reading leaders Kobo.

Amazon meanwhile have this to say to book publishers: “Welcome to the jungle, baby“. This as their new science fiction imprint launches — with Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear and Chris Roberson.

Dear Publishers: Please don’t pull a “Netflix” says Book Riot, and elsewhere there’s New Statistics and A Turning Point for the Publishing Industry to read all about.

And finally, there’s this fine Conversation Starter.

The reactionary hand-wringing greeting the news that this year’s Booker nominees have had a better sales boost post-nomination than any other shortlist in the prize’s history is unsurprising to anyone who regularly reads broadsheet literary columns, but credit the detractors thusly: they’re putting their prize money where their mouth is. Yesterday saw the announcement of a new, Booker-rivalling prize, simply called The Literature Prize.

The great divide. They are like peas in a pod or oceans apart; really depends on the day and the issue and the speaker.

Mike Murphy, Maeve Healy and Jane Rogers have all worked in both and give their opinion on each side of the great wall of publishing….