Judging from the way some mainstream newspapers treat the topic, one might think that there aren't many e-book titles and that they all cost as much as hardcover print books.

Not so, according to statistics released by R.R. Bowker, a leading provider of bibliographic information.

Bowker is making the numbers public in light of the recent negative reports on the state of the e-book biz in USA Today, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. A recent headline in The New York Times said, "Forecasts of an E-Book Era Were, It Seems, Premature."

Books in Print lists over 46,000 available full-length e-book titles, with 30 percent of them for sale at $10 or less – only 7 percent of printed books are priced in that range.

The average listed e-book costs $10.72 or 30 percent less than the average hardcover print book.

"Our numbers are important because they identify and define a large universe of e-book content available from a wide spectrum of publishers beyond the few in midtown Manhattan that are continually watched and questioned by the media," said Andrew Grabois, senior managing director of Books In Print, a division of R.R. Bowker.

More than two-thirds of all e-books on the list are categorized as fiction, literature or juvenile.

"This shows there is indeed a much larger and more diverse universe of e-book content available for sale and priced to sell than recent media reports would suggest," Grabois said.

Books in Print notes that the list of 46,000 titles is probably short by about 10,000 additional titles, which are either not full length or are sold directly from independent sites and therefore not registered with Books in Print.

"Our statistics show that while many of the largest trade houses and university presses treat e-books as just another rendering of previously published works in the same few broad categories, there is a surprising number of other houses publishing original and affordable e-books targeting adult and juvenile audiences," Grabois said.

More people to know: Finding the right contact became easier with the launch of Publisher's Marketplace – a virtual meeting place for just about everyone who works in publishing.

Michael Cader, book packager and creator of the daily newsletter Publisher's Lunch, which has a circulation of 8,000, created the site to give freelancers, publicists, packagers, editors, agents and publishers a central location to exchange information, needs and services.

For instance, someone looking for a copy editor who specializes in Italian cookbooks and a freelance writer who speaks and cooks Italian can find both with a simple search.

"Last week, a quest like this would require numerous phone calls and looking through endless piles of dog-eared papers passed on from editor to editor," Cader said.

Publisher's Marketplace will also host resume pages -– based on standardized templates – for writers, editors and others. For some users, this option can serve as an alternative to more elaborate and expensive websites.

One of the site's largest components will be posting boards that list the news on the latest deals and rights offerings. These will be archived and updated as rights are sold.

While anyone can post jobs or search the database of freelancers for free, there will be a $15-a-month fee to list your services, access the deals and rights information, or access to the job-posting board.

Janis Ian tops the charts: Singer/songwriter Janis Ian's and co-author Mike Resnick's short story "Water-Skiing Down The Styx," is No. 1 at Fictionwise.com.

The collaboration began when the singer – known best for "At Seventeen" – dedicated an album to the writer because his work had been a major influence on her.

"We began corresponding, and he recommended we co-author a fiction work together," she said. "It was something I always wanted to do and it was a great experience."

Because of her busy touring schedule, Ian kept putting off starting the project, but Resnick persisted. She finally sent him the opening line to the piece: "I lost all interest in sex after I died."

Ian thought that might possibly be the end of it, but Resnick wrote back soon and added to the story that became published as an e-book at Fictionwise.

It's a kid's iUniverse: Print-on-demand publisher iUniverse.com and periodical publisher Weekly Reader have teamed up to offer students and teachers a chance to publish what they write.

Students and teachers submit their work – from novels to classroom lessons – through weeklyreader.com. Books are printed and bound, and the resulting paperbacks can be purchased through a secure area on the site.

Third Grade students from Glenville Elementary in Greenwich, Connecticut, and poetry students from Clarkstown North High School in New York, have already published their works.

Teachers' books can also be made available to retailers such as Barnes & Noble and independent bookstores.

Hoping the electronic age of publishing will usher in a new generation of authors, Lynn Zingraf, general manager of iUniverse author services, said the service will give students and teachers an "opportunity to share their talents and realize their dreams: to see their book in print."

One sure bet is that a lot of grandparents will be getting iUniverse titles for Christmas this year.

Selling books, getting info: Yahoo will begin selling e-books – which wouldn't be particularly newsworthy except that unlike books sold at most online retailers, publishers selling on Yahoo will get the names of the book buyers.

"It's an attractive dynamic to know who's buying your books," said Jack Romanos, president of Simon and Schuster, in Publisher's Weekly.

M.J. Rose is the author of two novels and a nonfiction book about e-publishing.