Quote:
Originally Posted by BooksForABuck
While I anticipate that eBook sales will continue to rise, I agree that it's likely that total book sales will fall. First, many eBooks will be sold at very low prices (when I started in the business, my $3.99 price got me hate mail from other publishers. Now, a lot of self-publishers are testing the $0.99 point). Second, many books are in the public domain and can be read for nothing (which is cool but doesn't help revenue volumes). Third, we have ever-increasing demands on our time, and ever-increasing entertainment alternatives. Sure, I can read on my Color Nook, but now I can watch video on it, too. I certainly hope that this forecast is wrong (in fact, I'm in this business because I believe books provide a great value), but I don't think it should be dismissed out of hand. We on this forum mostly love books... not everyone in the world shares this feeling.
Rob Preece
www.BooksForABuck.com |
All true, but ebooks bring a few more things to the table that just lower production costs and lower retail pricing.
Digital distribution makes books accessible to people who otherwise wouldn't get to them.
Reader apps on cellphones and the portability of the smaller readers let people read more often at times and in places they otherwise couldn't.
The same applies to TTS.
There is mounting evidence that ebook readers read more than they did off print, which combined with a modest conversion of casual readers to avid readers might be enough to offset the competition from the PD and other narrative forms.
A lot of the doom and gloom FUD we see around ebooks is just the angst of people vested in the status quo ante facing the prospect of having to adapt to new rules. Doesn't mean they're wrong to worry but it doesn't mean their fears are destined to come true, either. All it means is they have to actually do something to adapt if they want to survive; the comfy old rules are no more. Power has shifted towards creators and consumers; the middlemen won't run the show much longer unless they learn to sing for their supper.
Its early in the game and most players should be able to ride out the transition as long as they don't try to hold back the tide. In the end there'll be plenty of money for the smart publishers.