The 2010s were supposed to bring the ebook revolution. It never quite came.

[jscris]

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/...uit-apple-ipad

[Uncle Robin]

Interesting, thanks. Because I never buy paper books unless that is the only format available, I had no idea of the price premium. I checked in my country and saw a "surcharge" of between 10 and 30% for ebooks over their paper equivalents. That's bizarre.

[binaryhermit]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I had no idea of the price premium. I checked in my country and saw a "surcharge" of between 10 and 30% for ebooks over their paper equivalents. That's bizarre.

To be fair, it's because paper books are sold to retailers on the wholesale model,where the retailer pays a wholesale price and can sell for whatever price they want, now ebooks are sold on the agency model where the publisher sets the price. Thanks, Apple.

[Paperbackstash]

I like the way things are - I never wanted books to go away. I like e-books and books both. I disagree with this part of the article, "“To my mind it’s game over for this business.” - E-books are here to stay, as are the ever-growing audiobook popularity. I'm happy to keep all the formats around.

[DiapDealer]

Actually, the ebook revolution DID come. And it's still in the process of redefining publishing. The notion that an ebook revolution had to mean the death of paper books was one not all that many shared. I love how articles like this use the fact that ebooks didn't kill paper as proof that ebooks somehow failed. Ebooks happened. Ebooks aren't going away. Space was carved in an industry despite many within that industry not wanting it to happen. Change has happened. Both in how books are published and how they are consumed.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I love how articles like this use the fact that ebooks didn't kill paper as proof that ebooks somehow failed.

This. When I saw the article give ebook sales as around 20% of the market, I thought, "how is this a failure?" That's as absurd as the other extreme I saw on a video review for an ereader in which the host breathlessly prophesied the certain end of paper books. I'm sure a healthy marketplace can sustain several content delivery options.

[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

[cfrizz]

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

This, I never expected print books to go away, and it makes total sense the the biggest buy-in for ereading would be baby boomers since our eyes are getting old. The next generation after us will take up the flag after we have gone and their aging eyes take over.

The only big publishing books I get are from the library, everything else I read are self published, and I have more books at prices I am willing to buy to read then ever before.

It's a shame we no longer get a year end break down from the Data Guy.

The big 5 can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. There is plenty of room for all of them, and having that choice is what is the most important thing.

[j.p.s]

ebooks revolutionized reading for me, but I am confident the total impact of ebooks on society would have been significantly larger if the price to consumer for a typical ebook was $2 less than the consumer cost of a hardback until the paperback is available and $2 less than the paperback after.

[binaryhermit]

I don't expect print books to completely go away as long as there's a sizable number of boomers left, probably longer.

[ZodWallop]

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.

It's also allowed a lot of old midlist authors to easily bring their out of print books back.

It's felt like a revolution to me.

[Luffy]

I've been expecting and desiring an e-book revolution, for my own sake. Selfish, I know..In the mid nighties, the oligarchic bookstores stored books that weren't interesting to me. There was not enough variety. Now, due to the fact that I can buy e-books from Amazon, has changed the world for the better. I got my hobby back.

[SummersN]

Interesting article, thanks. I love both paper books and e-books though and I definitely agree that deeming that e-books didn't come or "failed" just because paper books didn't disappear is really...weird to say the least.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

This. When I saw the article give ebook sales as around 20% of the market, I thought, "how is this a failure?" That's as absurd as the other extreme I saw on a video review for an ereader in which the host breathlessly prophesied the certain end of paper books. I'm sure a healthy marketplace can sustain several content delivery options.

You have to understand that the article was written based on what the reporter was being told by a writer trying to pimp his book based on the idea that if only eBooks had been priced at $9.99 then everyone would be buying eBooks rather than paper books or audiobooks. So, he's pimping a narrative that ignores any evidence to the contrary.

Of course, it turns out that many people who read eBooks prefer to only carry one device and thus read on a tablet or smartphone. Others prefer reading paper books. We also see that ebook prices track the current paper prices fairly closely for books on the Times best seller list

David Baldacci - A Minute to Midnight - Kindle ($14.99) Paper ($14.98)
John Grisham - The Guardians - Kindle ($9.99) Paper($10.56)
Stephen King - The Institute - Kindle ($14.99) Paper ($14.96)
James Patterson - Criss Cross - Kindle ($14.99) Paper ($14.50)
Lee Child - Blue Moon - Kindle($9.99) Paper ($17.25)

So, the narrative falls apart rather quickly. Heck, even the $350 dedicated ebook reader narrative falls apart when you look at the actual prices of the various kindles. $350 is the price for a maxed out top of the line eBook reader. One can buy a basic kindle for $120.

What we are seeing is that quite a few people still prefer reading paper books (my SIL falls in this group, even though she has both a tablet and an ebook reader, she buys paper books), and audiobooks is the growing industry, even though audiobooks are generally much more expensive than the eBook or paper book versions. That doesn't include the vast array of cheap eBooks available when talking about PD books, or indies. When one examines indie ebook prices, one sees that those prices tend to hover around a couple of different price points ranging from $1-$3 for some writers to just under regular publisher ebook prices for others, and those price points tend to follow the author's business model, i.e. releasing a book a month to releasing a book or two a year, rather than some idealized price.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

You have to understand that the article was written based on what the reporter was being told by a writer trying to pimp his book based on the idea that if only eBooks had been priced at $9.99 then everyone would be buying eBooks rather than paper books or audiobooks. So, he's pimping a narrative that ignores any evidence to the contrary.

Of course, it turns out that many people who read eBooks prefer to only carry one device and thus read on a tablet or smartphone. Others prefer reading paper books. We also see that ebook prices track the current paper prices fairly closely for books on the Times best seller list

David Baldacci - A Minute to Midnight - Kindle ($14.99) Paper ($14.98)
John Grisham - The Guardians - Kindle ($9.99) Paper($10.56)
Stephen King - The Institute - Kindle ($14.99) Paper ($14.96)
James Patterson - Criss Cross - Kindle ($14.99) Paper ($14.50)
Lee Child - Blue Moon - Kindle($9.99) Paper ($17.25)

So, the narrative falls apart rather quickly. Heck, even the $350 dedicated ebook reader narrative falls apart when you look at the actual prices of the various kindles. $350 is the price for a maxed out top of the line eBook reader. One can buy a basic kindle for $120.

What we are seeing is that quite a few people still prefer reading paper books (my SIL falls in this group, even though she has both a tablet and an ebook reader, she buys paper books), and audiobooks is the growing industry, even though audiobooks are generally much more expensive than the eBook or paper book versions. That doesn't include the vast array of cheap eBooks available when talking about PD books, or indies. When one examines indie ebook prices, one sees that those prices tend to hover around a couple of different price points ranging from $1-$3 for some writers to just under regular publisher ebook prices for others, and those price points tend to follow the author's business model, i.e. releasing a book a month to releasing a book or two a year, rather than some idealized price.

Actually, you can buy a basic Kindle for $89.99 with ads, or $109.99 without, so even *cheaper*.

Shari