When it comes to America’s reading habits, the writing is on the wall; or rather it’s on Amazon’s Kindle Reader or Apple’s ipad or some other electronic platform.
It seems like every other week, another independent bookstore is raising the white flag and closing its doors, unable to keep up with the rising tide of consumers embracing e-books as if it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
In July, Border’s, the nation’s second largest bookstore, drowning in debt and unable to find a buyer, announced it was closing its remaining 399 stores by the end of September when its liquidation is completed.
Meanwhile, Amazon with its Kindle Reader is posting robust sales, as it positions itself to profit handsomely from the publishing revolution, away from print to electronic platforms. In 2011, according to a company spokesperson, Kindle book sales, combined with the continued growth in Amazon's print book sales, have resulted in the fastest year-over-year growth rate for Amazon's U.S. books business, in both units and dollars, in over 10 years.
Amazon’s chief rival, Apple is also benefiting from the publishing revolution. The Apple ibookstore has over 200,000 books catalogued for consumers to choose from; and since it first launched in 2010, 139 million books have been downloaded from 2,500 publishers in 20 categories, including all six major publishers.
And as yet another indication of the growing popularity of e-books, the Pew Internet & American Life Project published a study in June, which reports that the share of adults in the United States who own an e-book reader doubled to 12 percent in May, 2011 from 6 percent in November 2010.
So as the reading public begin ,albeit reluctantly, to shift their reading habits away from print books to electronic platforms in the months and years ahead, what follows is a statistical snapshot of the e-book industry in the United States.
• 64 percent of all publishers now publish e-books
• 74 percent of trade publishers publish e-books.
• 56 percent of students bought an e-book because the book was required reading
• Estimated consumer spending on e-books in 2011 is $1.3 billion
• 19 percent of book buyers will likely buy an e-reader in next 12 months.
• The number of e-book checkouts at the New York Public Library in December 2010, was a record 36,000.
• A report by the Association of American Publishers shows that e-book sales were up 165 percent in 2010 from 2009, while hard-copy sales for that period only rose 3.6 percent.
• E-Book sales were $90.3 million in 2011, growing 202.3 percent vs. February 2010. Downloaded Audiobooks were $6.9 million, an increase of 36.7 percent., according to the Association of American Publishers.
• Year-to-date 2011 vs. YTD 2010: E-Books increased by 169.4 percent while all categories combined of print Trade books declined by 24.8 percent.
• Overall, 67.2 percent of libraries offer e-books, an increase over the past two years from 65.9 percent and 55.4 percent respectively.
• Urban (86.8 percent) and suburban (79.8 percent) libraries were more likely than rural (51.7 percent) libraries to provide e-book services.
• While an increase in e-book services was reported across the metropolitan status categories, suburban libraries reported the greatest increase over last year (6.6 percent).
• While library e-book circulation is still very low compared to print book collections, all interviewed libraries reported significant increases in e-book circulation. To cite one example: The Contra Costa County (CA) Library reported that circulation for downloadable e-books increased from 38,004 in 2009 to 56,560 in 2010. The library’s downloadable audio-book collection also experienced growth in use, from 27,338 in 2009 to 45,589 in 2010.
• On May 19, 2011, Amazon reported that its e-book sales surpassed both its hardcover and paperback business.
• The Kindle Store has over 950,000 books; 800,000 of these are $9.99 or less with millions of free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books available to read on Kindle.
• In 2010, the publishers surveyed by the Association of American Publishers saw 8.3 percent of domestic net sales from e-books.
• Overall, print sales are down about 25 percent across the United States.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
August 3, 2011
Source: Publisher’s Weekly; American Library Association’s 2010 -2011 Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study; Association of American Publishers
Bestsellers in Kindle eBooks for the Week of July 25, 2011
1.) The Help by Kathryn Stockett
2.) The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
3.) Now You See Her by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
4.) A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard.
5.) Caribbean Moon (A Manny Williams Thriller) By Rick Murcer.
6.) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
7.) Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) By Suzanne Collins.
8.) Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
9.) Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) By Suzanne Collins
10.) Stealing Faces by Michael Prescott
Source: Amazon
Top Rated in Kindle eBooks
http://www.amazon.com/gp/top-rated/digital-text/154606011/ref=zg_bs_tab
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Most Downloaded Books from the Library (United States)
Published on August 1, 2011
Adult Fiction
1. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (Penguin USA, Inc.) Months on the list-26
2. Smokin' Seventeen, by Janet Evanovich (Random House Publishing Group) Months on the list-4
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) Months on the list- 26
4. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen (Algonquin Books) Months on the list-12
5. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin (Random House Publishing Group) Months on the List-10
6. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) Months on the list- 27
7. The Confession, by John Grisham (Random House Publishing Group) Months on the list- 28
8. The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) Months on the list-23
9. Dead Reckoning, by Charlaine Harris (Penguin Group USA, Inc.) Months on the list-8
10. Chasing Fire, by Nora Roberts (Penguin Group USA, Inc.) Months on the list-6
Adult Nonfiction
1. Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House Publishing Group) Months on the list-28
2. In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson (Crown Publishing Group) Months on the List-7
3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (Crown Publishing Group) Months on the List-28
4. If You Ask Me, by Betty White (Penguin Group USA, Inc.) Months on the List-3
5. Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson Inc.) Months on the List-2
6. The 4-Hour Body, by Timothy Ferriss (Crown Publishing Group) Months on the List-21
7. Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, by Chelsea Handler (Grand Central Publishing) 26
8. Decision Points, by George W. Bush (Crown Publishing Group) Months on the List-25
9. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua (Penguin Group USA, Inc.) Months on the List-18
10. Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown and Company) Months on the List-24
Source: OverDrive, Inc
NOTE: OverDrive is a leading full-service digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, and other digital content, which provides services for publishers, libraries, schools, and retailers, while serving millions of end users globally
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