I love Stephen King. Not simply because he is one of the greatest storytellers of our time, nor just because he is one of the bestselling authors of all time (I am a literary agent, after all); but because he shakes things up. Back in 2000, he surprised the publishing world by producing a novel online, inviting voluntary contributions of $1 to his website, and followed this up with a novella which he released via his publisher in ebook only.

In 2013, he has decided to release his new horror novel, Joyland, in print form only, denying his fans the chance to buy it in ebook. Granted this is not part of his major brand books and published by a small independent in US called Hard Case Crime, but is this a game-changer? A Canute-like directing of the waves or a valiant attempt to revitalise a struggling trade, revive bookshops and reignite our passion for reading paper books? Whatever your view, he is an author engaged in the process of getting his book to his readers and for that, we applaud him.

But I think his defiant gesture of support for booksellers is well-intentioned but missing the point. It is not what readers want. All the evidence in recent years points to the fact that readers want their books when they want them and in a form of their choosing. One publisher told me that sales in Volume II of Stieg Larsson's trilogy spiked at 10.30 at night – readers wanted to download the new book at bedtime as soon as they had finished the first book.

Aside from reader power, which Amazon's effortless service has done so much to encourage, Mr King is ignoring another crucial aspect of why people have turned to ebooks. And that is the slow and gradual erosion of the bookshop experience. Bookselling has always been the toughest part of the chain, but in the UK we have lost Borders, Ottakar's, Books Etc, Dillons and many wonderful independent shops, all unable to fight against the tide of high discounts from supermarkets and e-tailers.

And when you do make the journey to your favourite local bookshop on the high street, you might struggle to find the book you seek. If stock is low, for obvious reasons, a customer will go online and buy the book they think they want. I write think, because the joy of bookselling used to be that someone would go to a store thinking they wanted one book, but leave with three.

Readers are promiscuous, unfaithful and insatiable. As it should be. Anyone who steps in their way – publisher or author – ought to be prepared for a fight. The age-old wisdom of publishing a hardback a year before paperback has been challenged with the advent of the ebook. A reader wants to buy the right book in the right format at the time of their convenience.

So, Stephen King and other authors, please continue to encourage readers into shops, but not at the expense of choice. And bookshop owners should be training a new generation of dynamic booksellers to engage, entice and hypnotise us into buying far too many books. Don't hold us back, bring us in.