Grisham releases 'The Firm,' 22 others as e-books

[March 16, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Best-selling author John Grisham is finally ready to go digital.

More than a year after reports emerged he would make his books available in electronic format, his publisher made it official Tuesday, announcing that all 23 of his works can be purchased as e-texts.

"John Grisham is one of the greatest storytellers of all time," Sonny Mehta, chairman and editor-in-chief of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, said in a statement. "This is one of our most exciting e-book initiatives to date and is certain to usher in a new generation of Grisham readers and e-book adopters."

Grisham, the author of such favorites as "The Firm" and "The Pelican Brief," has expressed mixed feelings about e-books and the quickly growing market, currently estimated at around 3 percent to 5 percent of total sales. In an interview with the "Today" show last fall, he worried that if e-books really caught on "then you're going to wipe out tons of bookstores and publishers and we're going to buy it all online."

"I'm probably going to be all right," he said, "but the aspiring writers are going to have a very hard time getting published."

Knopf Doubleday is a division of Random House Inc.

[Associated Press; By HILLEL ITALIE]

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