Ebook growth explosive, serious disruptions around the corner

[Moejoe]

http://www.idealog.com/blog/ebook-gr...und-the-corner

The news about trade ebook sales growth continues apace. The IDPF has just said that sales in June 2009 were up 136% over June a year ago. Calendar year sales to date are up about 150% over 2008.

[phenomshel]

"The strategic thinkers at the big publishing houses, retailers, and literary agencies certainly have a lot on their plate."

The problem is, as far as I can see, there ARE no strategic thinkers at the big publishing houses! And I'm not so sure about agencies, either. Retailers, maybe. Admittedly, I'm down on the whole publishing business at the moment due to several different factors.

[zerospinboson]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

"The strategic thinkers at the big publishing houses, retailers, and literary agencies certainly have a lot on their plate."

The problem is, as far as I can see, there ARE no strategic thinkers at the big publishing houses! And I'm not so sure about agencies, either. Retailers, maybe. Admittedly, I'm down on the whole publishing business at the moment due to several different factors.

That's not true. I remember seeing a news item on MR a few weeks ago that at least one of those houses had appointed a VP for ebooks

[Grandma Aubbie]

The library issue (have to buy the same # of Ebooks as you want to lend) has already caused issues in Kansas - where we use the State Library to download.

Newly released books can have a very long list of people waiting for the book - and unless they take time to "return the book," it's an automatic 2 weeks per person. Right now, they only have 47 epub books available for the whole state.

[zerospinboson]

Originally Posted by Grandma Aubbie

The library issue (have to buy the same # of Ebooks as you want to lend) has already caused issues in Kansas - where we use the State Library to download.

Newly released books can have a very long list of people waiting for the book - and unless they take time to "return the book," it's an automatic 2 weeks per person. Right now, they only have 47 epub books available for the whole state.

Here in Holland (and other european countries) the libraries pay royalties to the authors every year based on how often a book is borrowed. While the authority that is supposed to make sure the authors get their money is fairly incompetent (due to lack of oversight ensuring they do their job right), this would eliminate the problem you're having over there with having "enough available copies".

[ficbot]

I think the article raises some good points. As a non-American, I worry very much about the 'dominance' of Amazon. I sincerely am rooting for the Apple Tablet to be a serious challenger for the Kindle I think that if the first iPod Touch had been tablet-sized and marketed as a tech 'companion' i.e. for web surfing, gaming, video and reading, it may have been a major force and the Kindle might never have happened. I for one will not be shelling out any more $ for hardware until someone achieves global dominance and is declared the 'winner' (OR until everyone is using the same format and DRM ceases to be an issue).

The one complaint I have about this article is the fretting it does about the need to preserve/protect the bricks and mortar and paper books business model. I disagree that it is necessary to, for example, restrict the ebook to prevent a 'cannibalizing' of sales of the print copy. I think a lot of people who read ebooks are not interested in buying the print copy anyway; those that are interested will buy it when it comes out. A simultaneous release gives people the choice.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I think the article raises some good points. As a non-American, I worry very much about the 'dominance' of Amazon. I sincerely am rooting for the Apple Tablet to be a serious challenger for the Kindle I think that if the first iPod Touch had been tablet-sized and marketed as a tech 'companion' i.e. for web surfing, gaming, video and reading, it may have been a major force and the Kindle might never have happened. I for one will not be shelling out any more $ for hardware until someone achieves global dominance and is declared the 'winner' (OR until everyone is using the same format and DRM ceases to be an issue).

You think us Americans are not worried about Amazon dominance as well?

I don't share your optimism about an Apple Tablet. Yes Stanza on the Tablet would be very nice, but I suspect that such a device will not be the choice of dedicated readers. I know I get far more eye strain on the ipod touch than I do on the Jetbook -- as a result, the iPod has been relegated to much more occasional use.

I agree however that a single dominant format, as opposed to a dominant device is probably the best hope. Hopefully if DRM survives at all, it will be more friendly than most of the versions that are currently out there.

The one complaint I have about this article is the fretting it does about the need to preserve/protect the bricks and mortar and paper books business model. I disagree that it is necessary to, for example, restrict the ebook to prevent a 'cannibalizing' of sales of the print copy. I think a lot of people who read ebooks are not interested in buying the print copy anyway; those that are interested will buy it when it comes out. A simultaneous release gives people the choice.

Agreed to a large extent. I know paper books have been around for thousands of years, and have widely circulated since the invention of the printing press. That being said, it would wrong to hobble the growth of a new technology simply because it threatens an old one. Imagine people complaining about the light bulb because of what it might do to gas lamps?

--
Bill