A new trend in literature is kindling, and it’s emerging as a technological movement across the country. Amazon’s Kindle, a handheld device released in 2007 that accesses electronic books, jumpstarted an elevating trend in the use of technology for literary needs. Despite a slow pickup, electronic books are now making their mark, according to the first of a three-part survey released Jan. 15 by the Book Industry Standard Group. The BISG reported 20 percent of readers stopped purchasing print copies of books in the last 12 months, switching instead to electronic editions via Kindles, computers and other devices. Bill Demastes, English professor, said gadgets like Kindle could be beneficial to book sales. ‘Booksellers have been losing money for decades for hard copies of books,’ Demastes said. ‘The Kindle may turn this around because all readers have to do is hit a send button. There’s instant retrieval instead of distribution.’ And other recognizable franchises have fought for a place on the trend’s bandwagon since the Kindle’s inception. The Sony Reader was released in August, and Barnes & Noble released its reader, the Nook, in November. The Kindle, which can hold as many as 1,500 books, earns a price tag of $259, while the slightly larger Kindle DX, which can hold 3,500 books, is sold for $489. The Nook sells for $259, and Sony’s most basic version of its Reader sells for $299.99. Even Apple has joined in on the e-book enthusiasm, as it released its new Apple iPad on Wednesday, which starts at $499, according to their Web site. The iPad offers a high-tech combination of Internet, video and iPod, and in addition to these features, users can download the iBook application. Via iBook, users can purchase books and read them on the iPad. Newspapers are also finding an avenue for increased readership through the e-book craze. Sony advertises on its Web site that newspapers can be downloaded to the Reader. And as the BISG survey indicates, the Internet is adapting to the trend too, with eBooks.com referring to itself as ‘the digital bookstore.’ The Web site offers e-books for PCs, Macs, Sony Readers and mobile phones, and many novels earn similar price tags as those sold in hard copy on Amazon.com. ‘The Lovely Bones,’ eBooks.com’s current No. 1 best-seller charges $9.99 per download, comparable to Amazon.com’s $7.50 price tag for the hard copy. E-books constitute less than 2 percent of all books bought, according to a Jan. 23 report from Publishers Weekly, but while jumping on the Kindle bandwagon may be moving slowly, University students express interest in the trend. Melissa Hatten, English senior, praised the Kindle’s ability to provide readers with a means of carrying many books at once. ‘It definitely makes books more accessible,’ Hatten said. ‘The only turn-off is that nothing beats holding a book in your hands and thumbing through the pages.’ The University is adapting to the trend too. Full-time students can access the netLibrary database, which offers free e-books.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But independent bookstores are taking a significant hit from the inception of the Kindle. Danny Plaisance, owner of Cottonwood Books on Perkins Road, said the Kindle only serves as an avenue to take away business from independent booksellers. ‘It’s another way to eventually take the written word in book form out of the public’s hands,’ Plaisance said. ‘Thousands of independent bookstores have gone out of business in the last five to 10 years because of the Internet and technology.’ Follow Matthew Jacobs on Twitter @TDR_mjacobs. ____ Contact Matthew Jacobs at mjacobs@lsureveille.com.