Self-publishing fuels growth of print books

The romance with the printed word shows no signs of abating. Despite the rapid growth in e-book sales in recent years, print
book output in 2011 grew by 6%, to 347,178 titles, compared to the prior year. "Much as e-books have been the sexier topic
over the past few years, most people still read print books," noted Michael Norris, a senior analyst with publishing research firm
Simba Information. "If you talk to the given self-published author, some will admit they get a certain amount of pleasure from
holding a physical book, signing it, and giving it as a gift?something that you just can't do with e-books," he said.