The small kiosk at the ongoing book fair in Delhi is teeming with activity. A young student browses through a magazine on a tablet while his father figures out the services of the portal. Other visitors have questions to ask too. A would-be writer wants to know about self-publishing and publishers enquire about how they can distribute their books.

The people behind the kiosk — showcasing the digital reading website and publishing platform readwhere.com — are happy. “One can say that ebooks have finally arrived,” says Manish Dhingra, director of Mediology, the Gurgaon-based firm that owns readwhere.com. “In the last five days, we’ve addressed around 7,000-odd queries related to digital publishing and ebooks.”

Indeed, digital publishing is the new mantra in the Rs 12,000-crore Indian publishing industry — next only to the US and the UK in English language publications. In August, Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, launched the Kindle India store offering Indian titles in rupees. Predictably, the theme of this year’s Delhi Book Fair is ebooks. The annual two-day publishing conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) earlier this week was titled Publicon 2012: Digital Publishing.

“Ebook reading in India will happen at a greatly accelerated rate to what we have seen overseas,” predicts Daniel Watts, regional director, Pan Macmillan India. The publishing house has 2,500 ebook titles available on Amazon stores which would shortly be placed on online retail chains such as Flipkart and Uread.

It’s not the only one. Penguin India entered the e-publishing arena in July. Since then it has published 325 titles and is adding about 50 titles every month. Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) Media converted a few of its titles into ebooks nearly three years ago and has so far converted 350 titles. HarperCollins India is turning 50 titles into ebooks. Amazon’s India store already has access to Random House India’s 80 ebooks.

There’s more. At the book fair, Vishv Books launched apps created for iPads and other android-based tablets. At Publicon 2012, it was announced that the government-run National Book Trust will also launch ebooks.

Rupa Publications plans to have most of its active titles converted into ebooks by the end of the year. “At the moment the plan is to convert Rupa’s active backlist into ebooks. Front list titles of Rupa and Aleph will have ebook editions six months after the publication of the first edition,” says Hina Mobar, group head of marketing and publicity, Aleph Book Company and Rupa Publications.

It’s part of a global trend. Overseas, the industry has been growing at a fast clip. In the US, ebook readers pick up 24 titles a year versus the 15 that physical book readers buy. The Association of American Publishers recently said that ebooks accounted for 31 per cent of all adult trade sales in February, up from 27 per cent a year ago. PricewaterhouseCoopers believes ebooks in Asia will occupy more than six per cent of the market by the year end.

“Figures are not currently available because we’re still in a nascent stage,” says Sriram Panchanathan, senior vice-president – digital solutions, Aptara, a global digital publishing and content transformation solutions firm. “As for the ebooks market, roughly 70 per cent of the publishers’ revenues come from the US, about 10 per cent from Europe and the remaining from the rest of the world,” he adds.

The eReader battle too has just gone a notch higher. Barnes & Noble, the world’s biggest books chain, will soon release its Nook eReader device in the UK market for the first time. In the US, Nook’s share of the market is 22 per cent, versus 52 per cent for Kindle. The Canadian eReader company Kobo will launch a mini eReader and a new tablet in the next two months.

An Indian reader today has easy access to devices or eReaders for ebooks. The Kindle eReader is priced at Rs 6,999. Ajit Joshi, managing director and CEO, Infiniti Retail Ltd, says there has been an “overwhelming” demand for the Kindle. “Kindle can store up to 1,400 books and we have several popular Indian authors, besides the one million free classics available,” Joshi says.

Apart from Amazon, there are Apple’s iBookstore, Google Books, among others. The books are available in formats compatible with different eReaders — Kindle, iPad, Kobo, Nook, Sony Reader and others. They can also be accessed via sites such as readwhere.com or through compatible reading apps on mobile phones. Sites such as free-ebooks.net, booksinmyphone, manybooks.net and getfreeebooks offer free and priced ebooks.

With the devices becoming cheaper, publishers are optimistic about the future. “E-publishing allows publishers to work more flexibly than the traditional schedules of book publishing,” says Caroline Newbury, vice-president, marketing and publicity, Random House Publishers India.

For one, development costs are low. Storage and distribution costs are negligible too. “The medium also allows publishers to include additional material such as author interviews which may not be there in a print version,” adds Newbury.

The novelty factor, says Ananth Padmanabhan, vice-president, sales, Penguin India, lies in the instant and perpetual availability of an ebook. “Current technology allows you to buy an ebook from any publisher anywhere in the world in under a minute,” says Padmanabhan. “A reading device allows you to carry your favourite library with you.”

Padmanabhan believes the digital revenue in India will be about 15 per cent of all sales in about three years. “Through our website we sell more than 1,000 ebooks a month. The conversion is being done in-house, so we don’t face any significant direct costs,” adds Manas Mohan, CEO, ACK Media.

Self publishing too is picking up through digital publishing. “I declined a publishing contract and chose to e-publish as I was in control of the content, the book cover, the pricing, and the promotion,” says Rasana Atreya, the Hyderabad-based author of Tell A Thousand Lies, shortlisted for the 2012 Tibor Jones South Asia prize.

But ebook production is not without its share of problems. Piracy and copyright issues are being discussed, and safeguard measures being taken. “The content can be secured and piracy prevented. Access restrictions to user accounts and a pre-set number of devices on which content can be read will help,” says Dhingra.

Ficci fears e-publishing can affect the sales of print editions. For example, the ebook version of Salman Rusdie’s Midnight’s Children is available for Rs 257 on Kindle’s India store while the retail price of the book is Rs 450.

Indian publishers are not unduly worried. “We don’t see an immediate impact on our print sales as we are exploring ebooks as an option for additional sources of revenue. We could see a definitive trend in another three to five years,” says Lipika Bhushan, senior marketing manager, HarperCollins India.

Bookstores are not worried either. “While many are switching to the electronic mode the physical book is here to stay,” says Priyanka Malhotra, CEO, Full Circle, a publishing house and bookstore chain. “Visiting a bookstore, browsing books and engaging with fellow readers is an experience that can’t be replaced.”

The ebook has been uploaded and the game has just begun. A little switch on the eReader promises a switch over.