eBook sales are down 17%

[shalym]

Originally Posted by graycyn

I expect a lower price on ebooks because they have DRM on them. Can't be sold when I'm done with them, can't be lent to friends. Thus, since my property rights are less than with paper, I don't feel I should pay as much or MORE than paper, in the instance I mentioned, over DOUBLE the cost of paper....

For years, my reading habit was kept going by selling books on eBay/Amazon/Half.com when I was done with them. Then I branched out to buying books from library sales and selling those to keep me in reading material....

And while I may enjoy handling a printed book, I vastly prefer reading an ebook. Printed books usually have too small a font for comfortable reading. And they are much less portable.

I use Overdrive constantly!

EDIT: The other reason I prefer a lower price on ebooks has to do with quality. Too many times I've purchased ebooks that had quality issues ranging from typos to fonts set in a small size that *couldn't* be adjusted in my reader or margins set large that likewise were not adjustable.

In one notable instance, a technical book about making epubs, had some text in a color that appeared as light gray on e-ink and was nearly impossible to read! The same book also had images with text that were too small to read.

Illustrated books with low resolution images that can't be enlarged without turning into a fuzzy pixelated mess are also a turnoff.

I don't mind paying for quality, but it's very hit and miss! And comes down on the side of miss, more often than not.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don't expect a lower price on e-books because for me, they offer more features.

• I can read them at a more comfortable font size, on many different devices.
• I can hold them much easier, because the devices I read them on are generally lighter than a traditional paper book, and I can read one handed as I don't need to use my other hand to turn the page.
• I can carry many different e-books with me at once without having to carry a backpack everywhere I go, because I can store many of them on any of my devices.
• If there are typos, or the formatting makes it hard to read, I can easily edit the book to fix any of these errors (even though I very rarely do this, it's nice to know that I can, if needed)

Shari

Sent from my PC using a keyboard

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by shalym

I don't expect a lower price on e-books because for me, they offer more features.

• I can read them at a more comfortable font size, on many different devices.
• I can hold them much easier, because the devices I read them on are generally lighter than a traditional paper book, and I can read one handed as I don't need to use my other hand to turn the page.
• I can carry many different e-books with me at once without having to carry a backpack everywhere I go, because I can store many of them on any of my devices.
• If there are typos, or the formatting makes it hard to read, I can easily edit the book to fix any of these errors (even though I very rarely do this, it's nice to know that I can, if needed)

You forgot what I call the "immediacy" factor of ebooks. It's what I value the most.

The ability to be reading a book mere minutes/seconds after discovering it is a huge advantage that ebooks have over print books for me. I don't have to wait for days on them to be shipped to me, and I don't have to burn gas (or even leave my house) to go get them. Find, buy, download, read--all without ever leaving my recliner.

That convenience represents a considerable monetary value for me (as do the other things you mentioned). So in general, I feel rather fortunate that I can usually buy ebooks for a little bit less than (or the same as) their print counterparts. They're worth more to me after all.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by shalym

• I can hold them much easier, because the devices I read them on are generally lighter than a traditional paper book, and I can read one handed as I don't need to use my other hand to turn the page.

I just don't have the dexterity to do this. If I try turning the pages with the hand I'm holding the device with, it will flop to the floor. I admit this is due to my clodishness rather than a shortcoming of any particular device. It really makes me miss the page turn buttons of my old Nook ST though.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You forgot what I call he "immediacy" factor of ebooks. It's what I value the most.

The ability to be reading a book mere minutes/seconds after discovering it is a huge advantage that ebooks have over print books for me. I don't have to wait for days on them to be shipped to me, and I don't have to burn gas (or even leave my house) to go get them. Find, buy, download, read--all without ever leaving my recliner.

That convenience represents a considerable monetary value for me (as do the other things you mentioned). So in general, I feel rather fortunate that I can usually buy ebooks for a little bit less than (or the same as) their print counterparts. They're worth more to me after all.

Yep, all those are reasons that I prefer ebooks.

[Sirtel]

A major reason I prefer ebooks is the lack of any discernible smell. I totally hate the smell of fresh print, and don't get me even started on the smell of old books. I also dislike the feel of paper. Then of course there are all the other reasons already mentioned, why prefer ebooks to paper. Eh, no paper nostalgia whatsoever here. I love my Kindles.

That said, I will never pay more than 10$ for an ebook.That's my absolute upper limit. I'm content to wait till the price drops.

[Josieb1]

I've been reading on ebooks for the last ten years, prior to that I was reading fan fiction on a pc screen. Discovering an ereader that would take word documents and turn them into books was a revelation and I've never looked back.

[Cinisajoy]

I just ran across this article.
It is about self-published ISBN.
Self-Published ISBNs Hit 786,935 in 2016
That is quite a few books not counted in the Wall Street Journal article.
Not to mention the ones with only ASIN.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I've been reading on ebooks for the last ten years, prior to that I was reading fan fiction on a pc screen. Discovering an ereader that would take word documents and turn them into books was a revelation and I've never looked back.

And the Calibre plug in can help turn a bunch of fan fics into proper ebook files quickly as well.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I've been reading on ebooks for the last ten years, prior to that I was reading fan fiction on a pc screen. Discovering an ereader that would take word documents and turn them into books was a revelation and I've never looked back.

This was the same for me. First I ran out of room for all my books, then in the 90s the fonts became too small so I just started saving fan fics on my pc as Word docs since I could adjust the font. I read exclusively on my pc for at least 10 years, and forgot about buying books.

I got my first Sony reader in 2010, and haven't looked back myself either. Once I discovered Calibre, I converted my favorite fanfics to ebooks, and now have over 1500 store ebooks on my pc, phones and tablet.

If ereaders/ebooks hadn't been invented, I'd still be reading only fanfics on my pc.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

The publishing industry continues to insist that "screen fatigue" is causing e-book sales to flag. It certainly has nothing to do with high prices.

That is a false representation of the original article. They listed the following faults:

(a) self-published ebooks
(b) screen fatigue
(c) multiple forms of entertainment competing for attention

And out of the three they identified the last one as the primary cause for diminishing sales not the second one.

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by haertig

The biggest thing for me, is that you don't really "own" your eBook. You are very restricted in what you can do with one. Want to give it to a friend after you're done with it? Nope, can't do that. Want to move from one eReader platform to another? Sorry, incompatible formats and DRM.

This is not a general problem with ebooks, it's a DRM problem. As with all digital products, avoid DRM and you will be able to back up your media, sell it or give it away when you're done with it, move it to new devices freely, etc.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

This was the same for me. First I ran out of room for all my books, then in the 90s the fonts became too small so I just started saving fan fics on my pc as Word docs since I could adjust the font. I read exclusively on my pc for at least 10 years, and forgot about buying books.

I got my first Sony reader in 2010, and haven't looked back myself either. Once I discovered Calibre, I converted my favorite fanfics to ebooks, and now have over 1500 store ebooks on my pc, phones and tablet.

If ereaders/ebooks hadn't been invented, I'd still be reading only fanfics on my pc.

I've converted I don't know how many Harry Potter Fanfictions to ebook format over the years.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

That is a false representation of the original article. They listed the following faults:

(a) self-published ebooks
(b) screen fatigue
(c) multiple forms of entertainment competing for attention

And out of the three they identified the last one as the primary cause for diminishing sales not the second one.

Referring to the Shelf Awareness article you could take that view.

Reidy described the battle for the consumer's attention and time as the "main thing," the "number one challenge" facing publishers, and one that has gotten only more critical since the advent of things like social media and especially video streaming services.

However:

Reidy proposed that while nothing "went wrong" with e-books to cause the leveling-off of their popularity, consumers most likely simply "got tired of screens.

The first quote was addressing the general environment, whilst the latter was addressing the particular issue of the alleged falling sales of ebooks generally (whilst of course it is actually only the sales of overpriced agency ebooks which are falling).

And, remarkably, on Indie publishing:

Dervieux, meanwhile, said that he did not think self-publishing was a competitor, but may actually be "the exact opposite of what we are doing."

Not a competitor? Wishful thinking and denial at its finest. And if by exact opposite he is referring to curatorship, it seems that there are a large number of people who don't want it and won't pay for it.

And Riedy?

But while self-publishing may cause some consumers and authors to turn away from the traditional system, it also affords publishers an opportunity to "make the case of what it is we provide," which Reidy described as everything from "the editorial and marketing to legal representation and copy-editing."

I have not come across anyone who denies that publishers do bundle valuable services. It is simply that some of these services are less valuable than they once were, for example, marketing and promotion, at least for the vast majority of their authors. But also, the services they provide represent dismal value for money, requiring an author to give away their rights forever, if not legally then for all practical purposes. They could do this when they were the only game in town. Not now. Even thoroughly stockholmed authors are starting to realise this, if gradually.

These people are so steeped in hypocrisy and denial it is almost frightening.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I followed up with Amazon and OverDrive on the APub library ebook issue.

36 hours later, and neither has responded.

OverDrive said it's not them

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

OverDrive said it's not them

So it's Amazon not allowing APub eBooks to be lent via Overdrive. In that case, Overdrive should stop lending Kindle format eBooks. That would lower the sales of Kindles and teach Amazon a lesson.