Barnes & Noble Expects to Post Loss

The number of books being publishing is quickly shrinking, according to a report released on Tuesday -- just another negative publishing trend leading up to release, later this week, of the Barnes & Noble(BKS Quote) earnings.

With publishers cutting back new releases in response to declining sales, an estimated 275,000 traditional books were released in the United States last year, a drop of about 9,000 from 2007, according to Bowker, a New Jersey-based company that compiles industry statistics.

Categories with the biggest reductions included travel, religion and biography, Bowker said. But the number of "on-demand" books, a category featuring works with tiny, digitally stored print runs, topped 285,000 in 2008, the first time they outnumbered traditional texts. In 2006, there were fewer than 22,000 on-demand titles, which have become an increasingly popular way to bring old books back in print or keep recent releases from going out of print.

Barnes & Noble has already been struggling with weak demand as consumers cut back on discretionary music and book purchases. The company has also been losing market share to discount booksellers like Amazon.com(AMZN Quote).

The company said in March that it expects to post a loss of 10 cents to 20 cents in the first quarter, and for same-store sales to fall between 6% and 9%. Analysts expect an even further loss of 15 cents a share.

Aside from already cutting jobs and reducing costs, the company also acquired Fictionwise, an e-book retailer, in the effort to capture the growing market for electronic books.