Did the Big 5 Shoot their own foot with demanding the return of Agency Pricing?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Adult colouring books? That's a new one on me!

Oh?
Really? The... development... is US-only? Heh.

http://qz.com/593489/if-you-want-to-...coloring-book/

http://the-digital-reader.com/2016/0...-instructions/

I wouldn't put too much stock in the boost lasting because well, as they say, "there's an app for that":

http://www.amazon.com/Colorfy-Colori.../dp/B01248YO8E

Dozens, in fact.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Oh?
Really? The... development... is US-only? Heh.

http://qz.com/593489/if-you-want-to-...coloring-book/

http://the-digital-reader.com/2016/0...-instructions/

I wouldn't put too much stock in the boost lasting because well, as they say, "there's an app for that":

http://www.amazon.com/Colorfy-Colori.../dp/B01248YO8E

Dozens, in fact.

It's not US only. Several UK publishers are getting in on it.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

It's not US only. Several UK publishers are getting in on it.

Ah, but are UK consumers as stressed out as americans?

[fjtorres]

More on adult coloring books as the savior of tradpub:

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue...ue=2687#m31386

The theme last night of the Book Industry Guild of New York's panel Color My World: An Exploration of Adult Coloring Books was gratitude--gratitude that the adult coloring book boom has grown so large and is continuing, with huge benefits for the entire book industry. Color us happy, panelists said in so many words.

First, the numbers: panel moderator Jim Milliot, editorial director of Publishers Weekly, noted that through November last year, the top 10 coloring books sold 1.5 million copies, as reported by BookScan, which doesn't fully cover the traditional book retailing market and doesn't include the many non-traditional retailers that sell coloring books, such as Michael's. "There's no doubt those number are much, much higher," he said.

Jennifer Feldman, publisher of Dover Publications, said that since the 2012 launch of Dover's Creative Haven brand, which specializes in adult coloring books, the company has sold more than 11 million coloring books.

Ed Spade, senior account manager, content acquisition, of the Ingram Content Group, estimated that last year the company printed between 250,000 and 500,000 coloring books, which he called "a pretty stunning figure."

And at Penguin Books, Meg Leder, executive editor and editor of coloring book star Johanna Basford, said that sales of Basford's Last Ocean, published in October, have "exceeded all expectations."

The panelists said they believe that the adult coloring book boom, which began in earnest a year ago, should continue for some time. Already there are a range of what Feldman called "spinoffs," particularly color by number and connect the dot books.

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/01...ing-books.html

http://www.techinsider.io/jenean-mor...-books-2015-12

http://www.boredpanda.com/curse-swea...sarah-bigwood/

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...s-of-2015.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/bo...hing.html?_r=0

[HarryT]

Thank you. Very interesting - a trend that had entirely passed me by .

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thank you. Very interesting - a trend that had entirely passed me by .

I find the development and the giddy joy of the establishment delightfully amusing. It is so cute they think it will last.

I'm sure pet rock vendors thought their market would be eternal.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Adult colouring books? That's a new one on me!

I would think you'd know about adult coloring books. They are rather popular in the UK.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would think you'd know about adult coloring books. They are rather popular in the UK.

I've not been into a B&M bookshop for several years, Jon. That probably explain why I hadn't seen them. They're probably not ideal as ebooks .

[HomeInMyShoes]

I know about the coloring books. I prefer just free drawing, but I do like coloring with my son. I'd probably even buy a coloring book. Although I prefer turning the music up and doing a jigsaw puzzle.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've not been into a B&M bookshop for several years, Jon. That probably explain why I hadn't seen them. They're probably not ideal as ebooks .

They are good for apps. Some of the ones I have seen have fabulous pictures.

[fjtorres]

Hmm, Publisher's Lunch has (paid) access to the full AAP report and the October numbers are worse than they first appear:

Adult sales of $549 million were down $2 million with gains in hardcovers, paperbacks and digital audio weighed down by losses in mass market and ebooks. While adult ebook sales had been pretty stable through most of the year, the trend that started in September (with sales falling almost 8 percent) deepened in October, as adult ebook sales of $83.6 million were down $23.7 million — or 22 percent — compared to the same month a year ago. (Note that the largest trade publisher, Penguin Random House, returned to agency pricing at the beginning of September 2015.)

A bit more at the source:

http://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2016/03/71199/

And here is Publishers Weekly report:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...n-october.html

E-book sales plunged in October, with sales of adult e-books dropping 22.0% in the month, compared to October 2014. Sales of children/ya e-books fell 44.7%, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers through its StatShot program.

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Dickens was absolutely furious about piracy of his books in the US.

And so was Tolkien

"It seems to me a grave discourtesy, to say no more, to issue my book without even a polite note informing me of this project: dealings one might expect of Saruman in his decay rather then the defenders of the West."

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I know about the coloring books. I prefer just free drawing, but I do like coloring with my son. I'd probably even buy a coloring book. Although I prefer turning the music up and doing a jigsaw puzzle.

I have a few Dover Pictorial Archive books (which allow limited reproduction) and every-so often I copy a picture onto lightweight water-color paper using my printer-scanner and color/paint using my water-color pencil crayons and water brush.

[DMB]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Hmm, Publisher's Lunch has (paid) access to the full AAP report and the October numbers are worse than they first appear:



A bit more at the source:

http://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2016/03/71199/

And here is Publishers Weekly report:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...n-october.html

Any ideas about the cause of the decline in ebook sales?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DMB

Any ideas about the cause of the decline in ebook sales?

eBook sales overall haven't declined.
The sales of the (traditional) publishers tracked by AAP have declined but the rest of the US ebook market is still growing nicely. Enough to offset the losses reported by the AAP publishers and more.

It is a long story...

http://authorearnings.com/report/sep...rnings-report/

http://authorearnings.com/report/oct...-ebook-market/

http://authorearnings.com/report/feb...rnings-report/

...that can be summarized as:

Starting in sept 2014, the five Big Publishing Houses owned by giant multinationals negotiated no-discount Agency ebook contracts with Amazon (and the other "major" ebook retailers) and proceeded to raise average ebook prices from US$9.99 to $12.99 and up, generally higher than their print editions. The idea was to drive consumer sales to their print editions.

One small problem: there is no shortage of quality ebooks priced at $9.99 and under. (Way under...)

At the Amazon ebookstores half of unit sales of ebooks are going to Indie publishers, books that have an average price of slightly under $4, with a strong plurality at $2.99. In that environment, raising prices that were already triple the Indie baseline by a third is proving to be... less than wise.

30% price hikes = 22% declines. And counting.
(And few if any net readers have moved back to print. Instead, the net movement away from BPH titles.)

The BPHs have annoyed a lot of their readers but they have made a lot of their competitors happy.

Oh, and those Agency contracts? Multi-year...
They have at least two more years to run.