I’ve seen a lot of talk recently about how the sale of e-books is leveling off.

In a recent article, CNET  talked about how, due to the rise of sales in tablet computers, the sale of e-reader devices is declining. This makes sense, why buy two devices when one will do, and why not pay a little more for more features.

This doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the sale of e-books not rising at the same rate as before. Or does it?

 The people who buy e-readers presumably do so because they like to read. The same cannot be said about people who buy tablets. Sure there’s some overlap. I’m sure there are plenty of tablet owners who are veracious e-book readers, but that’s only a portion of all tablet owners.

It’ll be interesting to watch to see if this does affect e-book sales.

My prediction is that e-book sales will rise in January after everyone who got a device of some sort for Christmas downloads several books. It’s very easy to buy books. When I first got my Nook, I downloaded several before I decided to put myself on a budget.

It’s a lot different to buy a physical book and put it on a real shelf than to buy an e-book and have it sit on a digital shelf. Physical books are decorations and reminders for me to make time to sit and read. An e-book sitting on a digital shelf is easier fogotten, out of sight out of mind. I value the whole package in a physical book, an e-book  is strictly about the content. I’ve decided not to buy an e-book until I’m ready to read it.

I wonder if others have come to this conclusion as well. Recently I read a blog post (sorry, I couldn’t find it again to link back to) by a man who had embraced e-books, but soon realized he missed physical books. He’s since given up his e-reader.

After sales rise in January and maybe February, will sales level off? What’s your prediction?