Amazon reported today that net sales increased 22 percent to $21.27 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012. The release also noted that eBooks are now a “multi-billion dollar category” for the company.

CEO Jeff Bezos had this comment: “After 5 years, eBooks is a multi-billion dollar category for us and growing fast – up approximately 70% last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our 17 years as a book seller, up just 5%. We’re excited and very grateful to our customers for their response to Kindle and our ever expanding ecosystem and selection.”

According to CNBC, Wall Street analysts had predicted $22.26 billion in revenue for the quarter. At the same time, Amazon’s net income was down 45 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, falling to $0.21 per diluted share from $0.38 from the same period last year.

Today E L James became the first author ever named Publishers Weekly‘s Person of the Year, an annual award given to publishing leaders “shaping and, sometimes, transforming, the publishing industry.”

As part of the award, James will get a cover story and interview in the magazine. She joins a list of winners that includes David Shanks, Larry Kirshbaum, Jeff Bezos and Len Riggio.

Co-editorial director Jim Milliot explained the choice: “From boosting sales of print books through bookstores to putting a spotlight on a genre that had received little publicity, E.L. James’ impact on various parts of the book business cannot be overstated … She is well deserving of our Person of the Year award.”

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled the $119 Kindle Paperwhite WiFi eReader at a Santa Monica press conference today. The 3G edition will cost $179. AppNewser has more about the new Kindle Fire HD that was also revealed at the event.

It began with a television spot showing Amazon delivery boxes on a stoop. “We’re the people with a smile on the box,” it read, reminding this GalleyCat editor of a famous New Yorker cover.

Bezos explained: “People don’t want gadgets anymore, they want services. They want services that improve over time” and introduced Kindle Paperwhite. The reading device has 25 percent more contrast compared to the original device and 62 percent more pixels per page. It has capacitive touch and a new front light system that Amazon took four years to develop.

“It’s exactly light ambient light,” he said. It can get eight weeks of battery life, even when the device is lit. He demonstrated the tool with George R. R. Martin‘s best selling novel, Game of Thrones. The device also tells how many minutes of reading you have left in a book. You can also “x-ray” a title, seeing characters and key terms in the digital book.

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Amazon said today that it has sold all of its Kindle Fire tablets. The device launched in November 2011, and the retailer claims it has 22 percent of the U.S. tablet market.

Amazon has scheduled a mystery press conference next week, most likely to reveal some new devices. According to AppNewser, some believe that Amazon will release several new Kindle Fire devices in different sizes.  Business Insider speculated that Apple has been developing the iPad Mini specifically to compete with the Kindle Fire.

Founder/CEO Jeff Bezos had this statement in the release: “This has been a big year for digital products on Amazon—all of the top 10 sellers on Amazon.com since Kindle Fire launched just less than a year ago are digital products. Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead—we will continue to offer our customers the best hardware, the best prices, the best customer service, the best cross-platform interoperability, and the best content ecosystem.”

Amazon has introduced a new program called the Amazon Career Choice Program, which is designed to help employees expand their career horizons.

AppNewser has more: “Aimed at fulfillment center employees and seasonal employees who have come in through CamperForce, employees who have worked with Amazon for three years or more qualify to have 95 percent of their tuition paid in courses for careers including, ‘aircraft mechanics, computer-aided design, machine tool technologies, medical lab technologies, nursing, and many other fields.’”

In a letter addressed to customers, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos writes: “Many of our fulfillment center employees will choose to build their careers at Amazon. For others, a job at Amazon might be a step towards a career in another field. We want to make it easier for employees to make that choice and pursue their aspirations. It can be difficult in this economy to have the flexibility and financial resources to teach yourself new skills.”

Amazon has added all seven Harry Potter eBooks to the Kindle Lending Library today, negotiating an “exclusive license” with Pottermore.

J.K. Rowling‘s major bestseller will join more than 145,000 books that Amazon Prime members can check out for free (a service without due dates). The books now available at this link.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos did the math for Amazon users: “Over a year, borrowing the Harry Potter books, plus a handful of additional titles, can alone be worth more than the $79 cost of Prime or a Kindle. The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library also has an innovative feature that’s of great benefit for popular titles like Harry Potter – unlimited supply of each title – you never get put on a waiting list.”

This morning self-published author Jessica Park got a coveted spot on the front page of Amazon for Flat-Out Love, as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos applauded her book in a letter to customers.

Bezos spotted the popular essay Park (pictured) wrote about her self-publishing experience called “How Amazon Saved My Life” and decided to spotlight it on the homepage. He also noted that 22 of the top 100 Kindle eBooks were written by self-published authors–follow this link to explore the ten bestselling authors on the site. Check out his letter:

“Did I cry over some of these rejections? Absolutely. Did I feel inadequate, untalented, hurt? Yes. Did I doubt my ability to craft a story that readers could fall in love with? You bet.” That’s Jessica Park, who hit road block after road block trying to get her book Flat-Out Love in front of readers. You can read her incredible blog post on IndieReader (also picked up by HuffPost) detailing her perseverance and how she finally succeeded by doing it herself with Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s heartwarming and tells a powerful story about what KDP makes possible.

In his new book trailer (embedded above), author Andy Laties staged a Godzilla and King Kong-style battle between the founders of Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The action-packed video is for the upcoming book, Rebel Bookseller: Why Indie Businesses Represent Everything You Want To Fight for, from Free Speech To Buying Local To Building Communities. An illustrated Jeff Bezos starred as Amazilla and  Len Riggio played Barnes Kong.  Rebecca Migdal directed and illustrated the trailer.

Here’s the plot of the trailer: “Barnes Kong is on a rampage! The simian chain bookstore monster could go on stomping on independent bookstores and kidnapping dead authors forever, but the fearsome Amazilla has other plans: he wants in on the action. As the two battle with their laser e-readers, they destroy every public institution in sight. Can the Rebel Bookseller save the day, rescue Emily Dickinson and bring back a community of books?”

In this episode of “Cubes,” we take a behind-the-scenes tour of Audible.com. The Amazon-owned audiobook company is headquartered in the heart of Newark, NJ and its office has played host to Jeff Bezos and George R.R. Martin, among other literary luminaries, as well as a ton of top-flight voice actors who narrate Audible’s books in state-of-the-art studios.

For more videos, check out Mediabistro.tv, and be sure to follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

The American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher criticized Amazon’s price check app in an open letter to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Earlier this week, Amazon unveiled a special discount for customers who use their new price comparison app–a way to scan prices at brick and mortar stores but buy on Amazon.

Here’s more from the open letter (reprinted below): “We could call your $5 bounty to app-users a cheesy marketing move and leave it at that. In fact, it is the latest in a series of steps to expand your market at the expense of cities and towns nationwide, stripping them of their unique character and the financial wherewithal to pay for essential needs like schools, fire and police departments, and libraries.”

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