The New York Times is going to launch bestseller lists for eBooks in early 2011. Like other Times’ bestseller lists, there will be a fiction and non-fiction list for eBooks.

The timing makes sense, as eBook sales are up and Forrester predicts that eBook sales in the U.S. will grow from just less than $1 billion in 2010 to more than $2.8 billion in 2015. There is not currently a centralized list of the top eBook sales.

It won’t be without its challenges to compile. Amazon is notoriously tight lipped about sharing numbers and Nielsen’s BookScan does not currently track eBook sales. Wired has more: “The Times doesn’t specify but it seems logical to assume that Amazon’s rankings will significantly inform the Times’ lists. The newspaper says only that their lists will be ‘compiled from weekly data from publishers, chain bookstores, independent booksellers and online retailers, among other sources.’”

Nook readers can currently shop The New York Times bestsellers lists from within the eReader. We expect that Barnes & Noble will update this feature to include these new eBook lists.