Are e-books
gaining on print books, or losing steam? It appears to depend on who you ask.
Not long
ago The New York Times kicked off the
debate with an article based on sales data from the Association of American
Publishers (AAP), which purported to show that e-book sales drooped by 10% in
the first five months of 2015. “E-books’ declining popularity may signal that
publishing, while not immune to technological upheaval, will weather the tidal
wave of digital technology better than other forms of media, like music and
television,” The Times claimed.
But wait,
said The Digital Reader. Its piece noted the AAP’s sales figures failed to take
into account some $1.79 billion worth of e-book transactions. “While the
majority of the AAP monthly data about e-book revenues comes from the Big Five
U.S. trade publishers, the majority of the non-AAP e-book revenues goes to
self-published e-books and indie-published e-books,” The Digital Reader said.
For its
part, The Wall Street Journal did
report that the Big Five saw dwindling e-book sales after they negotiated new
agency contracts to set higher retail prices.
A new Pew Research Center report indicated more readers are borrowing e-books from their
local libraries. In a survey of library patrons aged 16 and up, 27% had
downloaded or borrowed at least one digital book in the previous year, compared
to 22% in 2012.
The Bookseller cited a YouthSight survey of 1,000 respondents aged 16-24, which
found 64% preferred to read print books over digital ones. Surveys of college
students, conducted by NACS’ OnCampus Research, also indicate they’d rather be
reading on paper, but they’ll buy e-textbooks if the price is substantially
cheaper or to fill an immediate need.
E-book
subscription services, often touted as a NetFlix for e-book readers, have had
trouble getting off the ground and a couple of high-profile companies recently
closed, as chronicled by Mashable. The problem there, though, wasn’t a lack of
readers; it boiled down to publishers not agreeing to terms that left enough
margin to sustain the services.
