A81 It is in a state of stagnation, with the overall market shrinking every year. Both books and magazines are facing difficulties. In 2004, the market grew for the first time in eight years, but this was due to a mega-hit phenomenon, in which a cluster of books sold very well. As a result, a few publishers did well, but overall, the publishing industry is becoming increasingly depressed. Pub-lishers and bookstores have been going bankrupt as the number of readers downloading electronic books from the Internet and reading titles on their computers and mobile phones has been expanding. The industry is hoping that this new publishing format will help increase readership.