A rise in the popularity of electronic books will spell the end for publishers, according to Toby Young, author of the bestselling How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

Young claimed that the change will come about because the electronic format allows established authors to publish the books themselves.

"They can upload them onto their websites and charge people to download them onto their e-book readers," he said.

"And instead of taking 10 to 15 per cent of the purchase price, which is the position authors are in at the moment, they will be able to take 100 per cent of the retail price and cut publishers and agents out of the equation completely."

Young, who was speaking as an official ambassador for the Sony Reader, said that the only remaining costs would be to type up handwritten manuscripts, convert the text into downloadable form and marketing.

However, the author described these as "negligible" compared with the fees taken by other parties today.

Young also predicted a YouTube-style writing community where anyone with talent could post their work online and rise to the top.

"It could have the same effect on the world of publishing that blogging had on the world of journalism," he said.

"Essentially you are cutting out the filtering device whereby only established voices are able to speak.

"First time authors will simply be able to make their books available to anyone with an e-book reader without having to get an agent and a publishing deal."