"I don't think the benefit to Amazon has been that great, " said Michael Norris, a senior analyst for Simba Information, a research and consultancy company.

WSJ: Book industry gathers for annual convention

Cookbooks are currently something of a bright spot in book sales, which declined overall by about 5% in 2008, while the cookbook category declined by only between 1% and 2%, according to Simba Information, a media research company in Stamford, Conn.

WSJ: The Momofuku Cookbook by David Chang