We’re not even a week into the new year and already 2011 is not being very nice to Borders. Publishers Weekly is reporting that some publishers have stopped book shipments to stores because Borders Group has suspended some payments. Also, 2 Borders executives, the CIO and General Counsel, have resigned.

None of these are good signs for the book retailer. So why is Borders in this predicament? What, or who, is to blame?

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Google launched their much anticipated eBookstore. The new ebook retailer touts access to all your ebooks wirelessly in the “cloud.” This lets users sync their device with their ebook library.

One of the big advantages of the new Google eBstore is that it doesn’t tether you to any specific device. Ebooks are compatible with all Android devices, iPhone/iPad, Kindle and the B&N Nook.

Looking at Google’s eBookstore, the layout is very clean and uncluttered. They also have a huge selection of ebooks, including new releases. You can search for ebooks in each category or search their entire library. Also, it looks like you can read ebook samples.

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Sony will be rolling out an eReader app for iPhones and Android-based phones. According to the Sony website, the app will be available this December. The new mobile app is nothing special, doing what all the other eReader apps can do. It will be able to:

• Get bestsellers and new releases from Reader Store.
• Access books purchased at Reader Store on your Reader, PC, iPhone or Android phone.
• Make bookmarks, notes and highlights, and adjust font size as you read.

I’m thinking with the release of this ebook app that those of us with the Sony eReader will soon be able to purchase and download our ebooks directly from their online ebookstore, rather than using their clunky, bug-riddled software.

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The holidays are upon us again and that means there are great deals to be found. And with eReaders skyrocketing in popularity, they are going to be one of the more top selling gifts this year.

That said, great deals and steals are already starting to leak out from large retailers.

Here’s a rundown:

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Barnes & Noble has released it’s latest eReading baby out into the world. The NookColor is now shipping and demo units should be at most of the B&N stores. This means that reviews of the new device are hitting the blogosphere. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to a NookColor (yet) so I’ll have to rely on the reviews of other bloggers.

For this post I’m using the NookColor review posted on CrunchGear. Instead of trying to rehash everything they say or copy/paste their entire review, I’m just going to pick out the highlights. Here we go:

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The nation’s largest bookseller introduced a long-anticipated new ereader to the market today called the Nookcolor. Rumors have been buzzing around the internet after B&N announced they were going to have a press event today. According to Barnes & Noble’s website, the Nookcolor sports the following features:

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I’ve been buying and reading a lot of ebooks lately. And I’ve been noticing a disturbing trend – ebook prices appear to be rising. When I first started buying ebooks after I purchased my 1st generation Sony Reader, prices were steady at $9.99 or less. It stayed that way for a while.

A few weeks ago, however, I was browsing for something to read and I realized that a lot of ebooks are now priced at $12.99. For example, Jonathan Franzen’s new book, Freedom: A Novel (aff link), is $12.99 on the Sony ebookstore, Barnes & Noble and Amazon. This is only one example. If you look at the bestseller lists at the various ebookstores, the average price appears to be above $9.99.

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In yet another sign that self-publishing is gaining legitimacy among the book crowd, both Borders and Barnes & Noble have launched their own self-publishing programs. No doubt part of it is strategic: Too compete with the ebook giant Amazon and with Smashwords, the latter lets authors publish their works as ebook in multiple formats.

Borders, who got into the ebook business late, is partnering with BookBrewer to offer self-published ebooks on their online ebookstore. Here’s an excerpt from BookBrewer’s press release:

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No, we’re not talking about a dating service for Kindle owners (ouch, I know, bad joke). Amazon announced today that they will be offering works that are between 10,000 to 30,000 words to Kindle owners. Here’s an excerpt from their press release:

Today, Amazon is announcing that it will launch “Kindle Singles”–Kindle books that are twice the length of a New Yorker feature or as much as a few chapters of a typical book. Kindle Singles will have their own section in the Kindle Store and be priced much less than a typical book. Today’s announcement is a call to serious writers, thinkers, scientists, business leaders, historians, politicians and publishers to join Amazon in making such works available to readers around the world.

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The popularity of ebooks is rising, and so is the concern about ebook piracy. This in part explains why publishers have been treading cautiously in the ebook trade. They demand stringent DRM, the use of proprietary formats and a pricing model similar to print books.

But how big of a threat is ebook piracy? I’m not naive, so I know that piracy takes place, although I am skeptical of how big of a problem it really is.

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