E-books or paperbacks? The debate continues across holiday spots this summer. Hannah Stephenson investigates.

LESS than two years after they were launched, it’s estimated that more than 807m people worldwide own some sort of e-reader – and many will now be downloading a stack of titles to take with them on holiday.

The boom has allowed previously unknown authors to make it big, as has been proved by the phenomenal success of the erotic Fifty Shades Of Grey trilogy by EL James, who used the self-publishing arm of Kindle to become the first person to sell more than one million e-books.

Earlier this year, publishers scrambled to sign sports journalist Kerry Wilkinson after the runaway success of his self-published e-book Locked In, the first in the Jessica Daniel detective series. The book sold a staggering 250,000 e-books in six months.

His strategy involved selling the first novel at a bargain 98p (the follow-ups cost more), and marketing it using his own website and social media. Now the backing of publishing giant Macmillan could propel him into the same league as Lee Child and Martina Cole.

The e-reader has come a long way in the last two years, with competition hot among Kindle, Sony, Kobo and others. As well as finding new authors, a number of e-book sellers offer free downloads of classic books which are out of copyright.

It also appears to be changing the genres people are happy to buy. Downloading saucy stories is becoming increasingly popular with women, for example, as the anonymity of the transaction means they are spared the blushes of having to buy a sexy book at the till.

The future of the e-book is undoubtedly rosy (one in 40 adults in the UK received an e-reader for Christmas) but could it ever replace the traditional print book?

Sophie Poderoso, PR manager for Kindle, says: “For some people, it already has, even people who were initially technophobic. It’s all about getting you closer to the author’s words and enabling people to read more.

“Since Kindle launched, people are reading four times as many books. It means there’s a real renaissance in reading and that can only be good.”

But not everyone is a devotee of the device.

Why I Love My Kindle, by Cathy Gordon

As an avid holiday reader my Kindle has proved to be indispensable. It was quite a while before I took the plunge and bought one, because I thought it could never replace the pleasure of holding and reading a real book. But I decided to bite the bullet after lugging several large paperbacks on a two-week break in the sun, only to find that I had run out of things to read days before I was due to fly back home. So, the next time I fled these rainy shores I was armed with my new toy. Before I went I downloaded several weighty tomes I thought I may like to read, planning to broaden my mind. However, once stationed on my sunbed, all I wanted was a good old thriller to go with my ice-cold beer. Kindle to the rescue! After a quick search in the Kindle shop I made my choices, at very little cost, and within a matter of seconds they miraculously appeared.

Why I Prefer Traditional Books, by Hannah Stephenson

I recognise the weight-saving, space-saving values of taking an e-reader on holiday, but there’s nothing like the feel of a real book to get you in the mood for reading.

I have long resisted the e-reader partly because I spend so long on a screen at work that I don’t want to resort to a screen in my free time. I love the feel and even the smell of books, the comfort and cosiness those real pages can create, the fact that you never have to plug anything in to charge and that the batteries never run out.

Trialling the new Kindle Touch, I found the black and white format uninspiring, with choices having to be made in monochrome, yet part of the fun of choosing a new book is surely to see the cover in all its colourful glory. When I go to bed I want to look forward to choosing from a pile of books on my bedside table, not a tablet. It’s just a turn-off.

It doesn’t inspire me to read.