Quote:
Originally Posted by Lparsons21
Yeah, 20% is nothing to sneeze at! If for no other reason, ebooks have made self-publishing available to budding authors.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
|
And 20% is only for the ebook-hostile multinational publishers.
The real number, once Indies and hybrids are factored in is probably closer to a third of the market. And that still doesn't include Oyster, Kindle Unlimited, and whatever Kobo has managed to snag for *their* rentals.
Or library ebook distribution, which must be significant given the ongoing attempts to stifle it by at least one multinational.
Besides, that reported 20% is by revenue at the multinational publishers, where ebooks are priced to hurt. As pointed out, Indies and Hybrids are much lower (typically $2.99-$4.99, depending on genre) so real world unit sales willbe much higher. In fact, the last publicly reported numbers had ebooks holding 80% of romance sales (all those backlist and hybrid Harlequin refugees!) and nearly two thirds of SF&F.
It should also be noted that in SF&F the BPHs have taken to heavy discounting of their deep backlist, so even their 20% by revenue understates reality.
Not that 20% is trivial, it isn't; just that it is the tip of a much bigger unreported iceberg.
Also, since I'm at it: tying ebook sales to ereader sales totally ignores all the reading happening on phones, tablets, and PCs.