Frank Ogden, a.k.a. Dr. Tomorrow, believes e-books are the future for readers and writers. Photo by David Clark

The attraction to writers is obvious. Because production and distribution costs are a fraction of paper books, even with a reduced retail price, the author is in a position to up his royalty cheque. 

Traditional publishers pay 10 to 15 per cent, while e-publishers typically pay in the 50-per-cent range. 

Vancouver futurist Frank Ogden has been offering his books over the Internet for four years. 

"The beauty of it is that it's all mine," he says. "There are going to be a million writers or maybe a billion. Anybody who has a computer can be a broadcaster or a writer."