Quote:
Originally Posted by GA Russell
USA Today gives three inches to a note in today's edition about the sale of eBooks.
"For the first time, revenue for the sale of e-books has outstripped revenue from hardcover sales....(F)or the first quarter of 2012, adult e-books sales were $282.3 million, up 28% from last year....Adult hardcover sales were up 2.7%...Adult paperback sales were down 10.5%....This week on USA Today's best seller list, the e-books outsold the print versions for 19 of the top 50 books."
http://books.usatoday.com/bookbuzz/p...enina/788050/1 |
At first I was surprised about the hardcover sales being up at all but then I realized that the people that pay extra for the hardcover because 1) they want to get the book as fast as possible, and 2) they think a hardcover with all the traditional mystique represents the very best like some fine wine or whiskey, would still be putting out the bucks to get that "extra."
The people buying paper back books which include myself were willing to wait for them before eBooks came out, and are willing to wait longer for the eBooks which might be cheaper to begin with, and aren't so interested in the fine heft of a wooden derivative in their hands. They might also like myself be concerned about the amount of space the paper books take and the weight, especially of the hardbound paper books, that accumulates over time.
I like used paperbacks (or used hardbound which sometimes is available quicker at Amazon) myself because most books (95% at least) I read once and then pass on in one manner or another and many of the used books I get for $4.00 including shipping and tax. Library books are also good there, but sometimes not so quickly or easily available.
I get many books at the several Dollar stores for $1.00, 1.25, etc. plus tax. Book fairs, thrift stores, and yard sales are good too.
"The times they are a changing."