Online and independent publishers have been frustrated for a while now by the lack of customer data they can collect after making their content available on e-readers like the Kindle and Nook. But that doesn’t mean Amazon and Barnes & Noble haven’t been amassing more data than they can use, to paraphrase one executive.Amazon is still tight-lipped about much of it’s useful data, opting to share useless “stats” like the fact that people like the first sentence of Pride & Prejudice. Barnes & Noble, which accounts for 25% to 30% of the e-book market, has been a little bit more forthcoming. Recently, the book retailer shared these insights with the Wall Street Journal:

• Novels are usually read straight-through, while non-fiction books are usually read in fits and starts
• Non-fiction books are also more likely to be abandoned
• Because of that, Nook has been encouraging more “long-form” journalism pieces and essays in lieu of full-length non-fiction books
• Literary fiction is read at a much slower pace than science-fiction, romance, and crime fiction
• Readers who begin a series tend to read through them all very quickly, as if reading one, long novel

What does that mean for subscription sites? Since most of us are in the non-fiction information business, repackaging and publishing long essays already on your site might be a better revenue source and upsell than full-length books. And knowing when and where a customer stops reading can help improve content.But to do that, e-reader companies would need to be more transparent with digital publishers. Hopefully, Google’s recent foray into the field with the Nexus 7 will force all e-reader companies to work in partnership with independent publishers, instead of like digital publishing demi-gods.