UK eBook sales soar in first half of 2012

[HarryT]

A "huge increase" in the value of digital book sales in the UK has been announced by trade organisation the Publishers Association.

The value of digital fiction sales in the first half of 2012 was up 188% on the same period in 2011.

Physical book sales saw a drop in value, dipping 0.4% year on year.

...

Full story at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19626076

[scrapking]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Full story at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19626076

It seems like e-books are growing the market more than they're pillaging paper sales, given those numbers.

That's certainly been my experience. Getting my Kobo has reinvigorated my reading. I hadn't been reading on paper, but now I read e-books every night.

[HarryT]

Yes, I found it interesting that there'd been such a very large rise in eBook sales, but a negligible fall in pBook sales. That would seem to indicate an overall rise in book buying, which is good news for the industry. It does seem, though, reading the rest of the article, that physical bookshops are really struggling.

[poohbear_nc]

Impulse buying is hugely enabled when you own an ereader. Pushing a button to purchase a "weightless" book that takes up no room in your house, that you can hide from your spouse/parent, etc. - takes away the "guilt" or logic of asking yourself - "do I really want another book?"
This buying is confined to ereaders - which probably explains the (at least initial) lack of impact on pbook sales.

I remember reading an interview with Colin Powell in the NYT Book Review - where he admitted he has "hundreds" of books on his Kindle that he doesn't even remember buying.

[holymadness]

Electronic reading will create enormous markets, capturing people who ordinarily never set foot in a bookstore. Both writers and publishers are set to make huge sums from this transition over the next decade.

Yet we're still saddled with restrictive DRM to "protect" the industry.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by holymadness

Electronic reading will create enormous markets, capturing people who ordinarily never set foot in a bookstore. Both writers and publishers are set to make huge sums from this transition over the next decade.

Yet we're still saddled with restrictive DRM to "protect" the industry.

Why are you "saddled" with it? I never see the DRM in any book that I buy.

[elcreative]

A "huge increase" in the value of digital book sales in the UK has been announced by trade organisation the Publishers Association.

The value of digital fiction sales in the first half of 2012 was up 188% on the same period in 2011.

Physical book sales saw a drop in value, dipping 0.4% year on year.

The level of cannibalism for paper depends on the real values of those figures which are not given... is 188%ebooks =< 0.4%paperbooks. The only figure given is total revenue of £1.1 billion for first half of year for e&paper.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by holymadness

Electronic reading will create enormous markets, capturing people who ordinarily never set foot in a bookstore. Both writers and publishers are set to make huge sums from this transition over the next decade.

Yet we're still saddled with restrictive DRM to "protect" the industry.

Why will it get people who never set foot in bookstores??? If people don't read then ebooks won't miraculously turn them into readers... people buying and using eReaders (or tablets & smartphones) are people who already read to some degree... the main result of eReading will be to reduce paperbook reading, it's not going to suddenly result in a huge expansion of a mature market - readers...

[scrapking]

Originally Posted by elcreative

If people don't read then ebooks won't miraculously turn them into readers... people buying and using eReaders (or tablets & smartphones) are people who already read to some degree... the main result of eReading will be to reduce paperbook reading, it's not going to suddenly result in a huge expansion of a mature market - readers...

I disagree. My own personal experience was I went from going years between times that I would read for pleasure to doing so every night. My Kobo makes things so much more accessible, I love the integrated dictionary (especially for period books with antiquated use of language), and I love the ability to use the same device to browse the web when something I've read inspires me to research something (such as reading alternative history, and that inspiring me to read up on the corresponding actual history).

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Why will it get people who never set foot in bookstores??? If people don't read then ebooks won't miraculously turn them into readers... people buying and using eReaders (or tablets & smartphones) are people who already read to some degree... the main result of eReading will be to reduce paperbook reading, it's not going to suddenly result in a huge expansion of a mature market - readers...

The easy access to a large library makes a huge difference. Many people read but the hassle to actually find something to read that you enjoy when you have free time etc is too much of a hassle so most people watch a movie or tv etc.
With ereaders, smartphones and tablets that has changed so someone that might read a 10-12 books a year with easy access to larger book collection might read 20-30. Its the same with video games many people enjoy games but carrying around separate device or actually using a console or pc to play is too much for most of them so they don't but now the ability to play games on your phones has upended the gaming market because of large number of casual gamers.

[jbcohen]

How long do you think it will take before electronic books are a simple majority of all books sold in the UK, where ebooks account for at least 51% of all books? I am guessing that on this side of the pond it will be at least 2014.

[Namekuseijin]

From personal experience, my reading habits were pretty much stale before I got myself a smartphone and got into ebooks. Then it soared.

The thing is not about having a book always available to you. It's more about having a library always available to you, right there in your pocket. It's something very powerful and compelling to a generation fed on short-term fun as TV toons and series and games. You may be reading a book but not into the right mood for it at the moment: no problem, just browse another one, now a short tale, then perhaps some poetry or a philosophy treatise.

You can't have that bringing 1 pbook in your bag.