ARE we falling in love with books again?

I don’t mean ebooks. I’m talking about the ones you can dog-ear and break the spines of. Remember those?

It seems a revival is under way, much like the renaissance of vinyl records. Good news for traditional publishers who have been kicked in the Kafkas by the digital revolution lately. Book consumers are demanding something tangible they can hold rather than data floating in a cloud.

The Huffington Post recently reported a rise in new independent bookstores in the US. The sense of community, of a shared passion under one roof, was credited. As much as I like my Kindle, compared to a real book they are rather soulless things.

Anyone who loves books understands what I’m talking about. There is nothing to compare with skulking around a bookstore, either new or second-hand, armed with that delicious sense of anticipation of stumbling across an undiscovered gem. I’ve spent hours and hours of my life scanning the spines of books in bookshops.

The recent monster success of mainstream novels like Gone Girl shows that readers are prepared to fork out for a book if it’s good.

That should offer hope to the publishing industry.

Big publishers, with huge production costs, have to sell hardback novels at almost 20 quid and paperbacks at almost a tenner.

Meanwhile, a new writer can self-publish free on Amazon or Smashwords.

Traditional publishers offer authors royalties of under 10 per cent. That’s okay if you’re J K Rowling. Not so if you’re a new writer with no audience.

Self-published authors are lured by Amazon and their ilk with a royalty cut of up to 70 per cent. As they say in America, you do the math...

As a reader, why pay £10 for a Stephen King when you can read 10 times as much on your Kindle for the same price?

When you remove the gate keeper from the system – publishers, agents – inevitably you make entry to an industry democratic. So anybody can become an author. That’s great, that’s empowering. But it makes it harder for readers to find the good stuff. Now you have to wade through all the poorly written, badly edited dross to get to the cream.

All readers want is a good story. Price isn’t always the key.

Let’s hope the trend continues. It would be lovely to see small, dedicated, specialist independent booksellers return to our town to complement our excellent Waterstones, which boasts passionate and enthusiastic staff.

This certainly isn’t the final chapter for books.