USA Today: Big eBook Sales

[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

[SeaKing]

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."

[GA Russell]

SeaKing, these numbers suggest to me that trade paperbacks are less popular than past sales would indicate.

I believe that there will always be a market in my lifetime for old-fashioned inexpensive mass market paperbacks; but the last-year's hardbacks that decades ago used to come out in mass market after a year now come out in much more expensive trade paperbacks, and I'm thinking that many people would prefer the eBook to that.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

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."

I tend to buy hardcovers from my favorite authors - they are

1) Much more durable than a paperback (lasts through many more reads without wearing out)
2) prettier
3) open up flat so you can eat/read at the same time.

There's plenty of books I read once every year or two and I imagine I'll have for decades - I like to have those in hardcover.

My paperback purchases are down to close to nil. I either buy hardcovers from my favorite authors (want to keep for decades) or I buy ebooks (rarely...I hate DRM and the pricing sucks over a used book...so it's mainly smashwords for me).

I find myself buying a lot more used hardcovers, oddly...the price is about the same as an ebook.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

I tend to buy hardcovers from my favorite authors - they are

1) Much more durable than a paperback (lasts through many more reads without wearing out)
2) prettier
3) open up flat so you can eat/read at the same time.

There's plenty of books I read once every year or two and I imagine I'll have for decades - I like to have those in hardcover.

My paperback purchases are down to close to nil. I either buy hardcovers from my favorite authors (want to keep for decades) or I buy ebooks (rarely...I hate DRM and the pricing sucks over a used book...so it's mainly smashwords for me).

I find myself buying a lot more used hardcovers, oddly...the price is about the same as an ebook.

Several questions come to mind. If you would answer them, I would appreciate it.

1) How many linear feet of book space do you currently utilize?
2) What is the usual growth, again in linear feet, per year?

[DrNefario]

I'm not a big fan of hardbacks, I find them unwieldy, but if someone's buying me a book as a gift, it will often be a hardback, and vice versa.

So is it the case that paperbacks were mostly bought by readers for themselves, so it is these purchases that give way to ebooks, while the gift economy of hardbacks remains strong?

[pdurrant]

I think that hardbacks will be with us for a long time. Especially high-quality editions. But with a decline over time to much lower sales than at present (to one half or one third of current sales).

I think we are going to see a much more rapid decline in the sale of mass-market and trade paperbacks, as ebooks take over that segment of the market. To the point that I think that paperbacks will become a small fraction (say less than 5%) of the book market.

We shall see.

[pidgeon92]

I always preferred hardcovers to paperbacks. But for me, ebooks trump everything. My house is cluttered enough as it is.

[danskmacabre]

I got given a hardcover book about the Crusades.
It was really nice to sit down with a hardcover book and read it.
Seeing as it's a non-fiction large hardcover book with large illustrations, I would by far prefer this to say an epub, which would not do anywhere near as good a job.

Would probably look nice on a 10" tablet tho in PDF format.

[usuallee]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

ebooks trump everything. My house is cluttered enough as it is.

exactly!

[hrosvit]

Before I converted to e-books, I religiously collected hardbacks from my favorite authors for repeated readings (and, admittedly, because once I started collecting a series my minor OCD couldn't stand for it to be incomplete). I also purchased paperbacks, often used, to save space in luggage, or for throw-away type situations. I resisted the movement to e-book for a long time, because I liked my collections of hardbacks. Didn't really give a damn about the paperbacks; the ones I kept were stuffed in boxes in the basement.

In the 2+ years that I have had an e-reader, I have purchased exactly zero hardbacks. I gave them up cold turkey, and it felt good. I am surprisingly content to continue my series in e-book form. I have, however purchased a few (probably five-ish) paperbacks, again in throw-away situations. Once when going on a small boat for the day (don't want to risk my precious electronics), once when I lost my Nook Color while on a trip and needed something to read on a plane.

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think that hardbacks will be with us for a long time. Especially high-quality editions. But with a decline over time to much lower sales than at present (to one half or one third of current sales).

That sounds about right. Despite the fact that I am a long time convert to e-books, some dusty volumes will NEVER leave my bookshelf. In addition, I am still buying hardcover editions as gifts, I somehow feel that it is impossible to invent a digital equivalent for that occasion.

I would not be surprised if Lulu business model (where printed version is a special order) becomes predominant way of ordering and purchasing paper copies in not-so-far future.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Ankh

I would not be surprised if Lulu business model (where printed version is a special order) becomes predominant way of ordering and purchasing paper copies in not-so-far future.

Does lulu or a competitor offer on-demand hardbacks?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Does lulu or a competitor offer on-demand hardbacks?

Yes, but they are perfect-bound hardbacks - the same kind of page block as a paperback, but in hard covers.

[GA Russell]

That's interesting, Paul. I don't think that I've ever seen a book like that.

I think that would make a great gift.

Is the cover what we call here a library cover, with the picture printed on the cover, or do they have dust jackets?