Well, if it's November, it's almost time for newspapers, magazines and Websites to start publishing their holiday shopping lists, which will no doubt feature prominently items like the iPod Nano and the video iPod. On Friday, the Direct Marketing Association kicked off things with a preview of the upcoming holiday shopping season, estimating that Americans will spend $299 billion on holiday gifts this year. Internet retailers, rejoice! The trend is your friend:

More than two-thirds of Americans (70%) will shop from home, buying from catalogs, over the Internet, over the phone, or through the mail

Books/Music/Videos are the most popular online purchases, with 55% of online shoppers buying these items on the Web

63% of shoppers cite convenience as the reason they shop via catalogs, the Internet, mail, or phone

Oh, and 97% of Americans plan to shop for holiday gifts in 2005. The remaining 3%? Well, they're either waiting for the holiday discount sales in 2006 or they're just plain Grinches.