Remember all of those e-readers folks got for Christmas? It appears the  people who received Kindles and other electronic reading devices got right down to using them. According to the American Association of Publishers, ebook sales spiked to an all-time high of almost $70 million in January.

The big news here is that more consumers bought ebooks in January than mass market paperbacks ($39 million) or hardcovers ($49 million). Trade paperbacks fell off 19 percent in January, but still outpaced ebooks, bringing in $83.6 million.

All in all, ebooks accounted for 23.5 percent of all trade book sales for the month. In December, ebooks brought in $49.5 million – about eight percent of all trade sales.

Read the full article from here.

It looks like everyone is still trying to figure out this whole ebooks thing. According to USA Today, the latest battle pits librarians against a respected publisher.

HarperCollins is limiting the circulation of library ebooks to 26 loans. After that, it’s digital midnight and the book vanishes. In order to continuing carrying the title, the libraries must lease the same title again for a fee. Facing their own budget constraints, some outraged librarians have decided to boycott HarperCollins. They’re using blogs, Twitter and other social media to get the word out.

Libraries generally lend ebooks out at a time like they do with tree-books. Some major publishers, like Simon & Schuster and Macmillan, don’t sell e-books to libraries.

According to the USA Today article, it’s just the latest dispute brought on by the explosion of ebooks. Publishers have gone up against online retailer Amazon over prices and publishers are wrangling with agents and authors over royalties and rights.

HarperCollins addressed the issue in on open letter to librarians. On its Library Love Fest blog, the publisher invites libraries to continue the discussion.

“We have serious concerns that our previous e-book policy, selling e-books to libraries in perpetuity, if left unchanged, would undermine the emerging e-book eco-system, hurt the growing e-book channel, place additional pressure on physical bookstores, and in the end lead to a decrease in book sales and royalties paid to authors. We are looking to balance the mission and needs of libraries and their patrons with those of authors and booksellers, so that the library channel can thrive alongside the growing e-book retail channel.”

Hoping to cash in on the huge number of romance readers who buy ebooks, Avon Books is launching a new imprint devoted solely to digital publishing. Avon Impulse will feature e-books and print-to-order novels and novellas by existing Avon authors while also looking for new talent for the e-book marketplace.

“Romance readers have been among the first to embrace books digitally,” says Liate Stehlik, senior vice president and publisher of Avon Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. “Their passion has encouraged us to introduce a line of romance e-books, which empowers Avon to publish more quickly, with an eye to what’s trending in fiction.” 

The new imprint will publish several titles each month, and plans to eventually release new content on a weekly basis. According to the Avon press release, the books will still be acquired by Avon editors, and will benefit from targeted marketing and publicity plans, as well as powerful sales platforms.

“What sets Avon Impulse apart,” says Stehlik, “is that authors are signing to work alongside the Avon team, and will benefit from the same platforms that Avon authors have always enjoyed.”

Being free from traditional printing constraints will allow Avon Impulse to edit, market and release the e-books more quickly.  

 “The Avon Impulse imprint also allows us greater flexibility in the length of books we can publish – from novella to full-length fiction, and enables us to explore new themes in romance,” says Carrie Feron, vice president and editorial director at Avon.

“There is so much opportunity right now within the romance genre,” Stehlik says. “Readers have found a rich array of fresh content using digital and e-reading devices.”

Avon Impulse is currently in the acquisition and production process for e-books to be published in 2011 and 2012.  “We are actively looking to acquire for Avon Impulse,” says Feron.  Authors looking to submit to Avon Impulse can find guidelines and an online submission portal at www.avonromance.com/impulse.

“We are looking for quality submissions across every romance subgenre,” says Feron.