A recent article from Publishers Weekly announced the launch of Carina Press, a new imprint of romance publisher Harlequin that will exclusively publish eBooks. This got us thinking about other eBook-only publishers, a group that's really growing in a publishing world where eReaders are getting more popular every day.
Like Carina, a lot of the eBook-only presses focus on genre titles -- romance, science fiction, fantasy -- which lend themselves naturally to the eBook format, as they're often quickly-consumed and addictive. Presses like Uncial and Atlantic Bridge don't specifically focus on one genre, but are clearly driven by fantasy and sci-fi to the extent that they specify general fiction titles as "Mainstream." Others, like Samhain Publishing, from which Carina is taking its new executive editor, have found that the romance genre is very successful in eBooks.
Other presses have taken a more general approach, defining themselves as independent publishers on the forefront of digital publishing. OR Books stands out as the major player in this category. They debuted this month with the much-talked-about "Going Rouge," and are focusing on publishing two high-quality titles per month, available as eBooks and print-on-demand paperback directly from the publisher.
There are plenty of other non-traditional publishers of eBooks available as well. Sites where people can self-publish and sell their own eBooks abound, the most notable Smashwords, iUniverse, Lulu, and Scribd.
Chances are, more of these types of publishers and services will crop up pretty quickly, especially as eReaders like the Nook and others make it even more popular to read your books digitally.