The Kindle and Nook have certainly helped out in that respect by providing a way to cozy up on the couch or in bed and read a book. Not quite the tactile experience of an actual book, of course, but it beats reading at the desktop or lugging the laptop around with you.

The 90's saw the decline of the midlist author, which were those authors that sold well enough to be profitable but not much more than that. The midlist author has generally made up the bulk of what you see on store shelves, but the rise of the chain bookstore created a more narrow book selection in stores -- generally those that sold the best -- making it more difficult for these authors to get on shelves.

The fact is that best-selling authors are not always the best authors. Stephanie Meyer is the hottest author in fiction right now, and yet her books are often criticized for being poorly written. And while not every midlist writer produced sparkling prose, there are many fine writers and great stories that are trapped in the midlist void.

E-books could dramatically help lesser known authors get their words out to the reading public.

Electronic books are on a slow but inevitable rise that will likely take over the book industry. This will no doubt have more to do with our own reading habits than technology and the current generation is much more willing to read a book from a laptop, iPhone or Kindle.

The problem will be finding the quality within the long tail. While there are many great authors and stories being skipped over by the mainstream publishing industry, these authors are also standing side-by-side with those whose words just aren't up to par and whose stories turn up lacking.

Lazerbooks.com has produced an exciting digital book to go along with the hardcopy version of Johnny Junkpile. This will be available sometime in January. The digital version will include alternate storylines, audio and video clips, alternate storylines and much more. If you wants us to tell you when the digital version of Johnny Junkpile will be ready send us an email and we will notify you.