by Mike Gray

Last year the Daily Mail Online reported that 77 million books are destroyed or relegated to the pound bins each year in the U.K.:

So many titles no one wants to read are being produced that they are being shredded, pulped or sold on market stalls at a fraction of their original price. Industry insiders say companies are forced to destroy them after they are returned by bookshops.

No word on how many books get the same treatment in the United States.

The article cites poor marketing strategies by publishers and retailers rather than any inroads being made by electronic books; yet at almost the same time, Amazon announced its milestone record of Kindle books outselling physical books.

Will “dead tree” publishing soon be a thing of the past?