The book publishing industry is not sure what to make of the Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) Kindle wireless reader. The device’s creator, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, addressed the industry in front of a packed crowd on Friday at the BookExpo Convention in Los Angeles, and talked about about the device, which accounts for 6 percent of his company’s book sales that are available in both paper and electronic. But two camps appear to be forming an opinion on whether the device is an opportunity or threat. Publishers are concerned about Amazon’s growing dominance as a bookseller, reports The NYTimes, because they fear Amazon will put pressure on publishers to cut prices of book titles since electronic versions sold for the Kindle are at way lower price points. Still, electronic book sales are increasing, while the growth in the book business has slowed. Penguin Group USA CEO David Shanks said his company sold more electronic books in the first four months of this year compared to all of 2007. Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn K. Reidy said electronic book sales will more than doubled this year compared to last year, after growing 40 percent in 2007 from 2006. Perhaps to aid those sales increases, Simon & Schuster upped the number of titles available for the Kindle to 130,000, an increase of 5,000, reports AP.

More at mocoNews.com.

• Bezos On Kindle: ‘We Would Love To Have Color’—And Every Book Ever
• @ D6: Jeff Bezos: Kindle Contributes 6 Percent Of Title Sales
• Amazon Drops Kindle Price By $40
• Gadget Round-Up: Kindle’s 2010 Estimates; BlackBerry Gets Touchy; Palm Downgraded To Sell