Amazon.com is offering a free subscription to the digest edition of Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine is now exclusively available in the Kindle Store. Kindle customers who subscribe will get access to all of the magazine’s editorial content — editor’s recommendations, “Curiosities” (odd books of enduring interest), film reviews, book reviews, cartoons and humor, and “Coming Attractions” (highlights of each issue) — along with one short story, all at no cost.

Thanks to the Apple iPad and new tools like iBuildApp.com, digital publishing is easier than ever. Silicon Valley based startup iBuildApp recently added an iPad publishing solution to their suite of iPhone templates designed for the non-coder.

iPad publishing has created new revenue streams for businesses who can publish materials without printing and shipping costs.

Libraries and schools worldwide were at the forefront of the eBook boom in 2010, as patrons and students downloaded millions of digital books for iPhone, Android, Sony Reader, NOOK, and personal computers. More than one million new users signed on to access free eBooks, audiobooks, and more from ‘Virtual Branch’ websites last year, resulting in a 200 percent increase in eBook checkouts and a 52 percent increase in audiobook checkouts over 2009.

Key statistics for library eBooks, audiobooks, and more from OverDrive-powered digital catalogs include:

1. 718 million book and title catalog pages viewed
2. 15 million digital titles checked out
3. 6.6 billion minutes of spoken word audio downloaded
4. 400,000 copyrighted eBook, audiobook, music, and video titles available to libraries

Library users are able to download eBooks over the air directly to their iPhone, iPod touch, and Android tablet or phone, in addition to downloads for PC, Mac, and popular eBook readers.

Wattpad, a social eBook community, released the Q1 2010 edition of its Global eBook Metrics Report. This comprehensive report covers both desktop and mobile eBook usage of users from over 160 countries.

“The number of users on Wattpad has increased over fifty percent in the last quarter, making this our most thorough examination of eBook consumption habits to date” explains Allen Lau, CEO and co-founder of Wattpad.

Key findings this quarter show:

1. An uptake in mobile users in the United States and the growing popularity of the iPhone/iPad/iPod family and BlackBerry devices.
2. The United States now accounts for over 50% of BlackBerry and iOS users, followed by the UK.
3. iOS users were the more active and social users, spending a quarter of 1B minutes on Wattpad during Q3, while BlackBerry accounted for just 40 Million minutes last quarter.
4. Wattpad saw 90% of traffic come from young women under the age of 25.

To view the complete report, please visit: http://www.wattpad.com/metricsreport

Media and publishing market forecast firm Simba Information, publisher of the “Book Publishing Report” newsletter, has estimated about 35% of iPad owners haven’t used the devices to read e-books. The estimate is based on the preliminary findings from a nationwide survey of over 1,800 respondents, who were selected on a nationally representative basis.

“The fact that over a million iPad buyers haven’t used the gadget for e-books shows that not all new gadgets equate to a new e-reader,” says Michael Norris, senior trade book analyst at Simba Information.