Children's/YA sales suffered a downturn, however. Sales of
$100.3 million represented a 23.6 percent decline from the same period a year
ago, largely due to a big drop in hardcover sales (down 29.3 percent to $44.7
million.) And ebook sales also declined a significant 36 percent in January, at
$14.4 million, continuing to reflect the difference between rising Hunger Games
sales in late 2011 and declining sales in the second part of 2012.
In all, ebooks comprised 27.3 percent of sales in January,
as they rose less than $2 million compared to December.
(excerpted from
Publisher's Lunch)
Sorry I may be a little dumb here but does this mean people just aren't buy books at all, whether eBooks or mainstream?
ReplyDeleteMy friend said she doesn't think people are buying books, but I don't believe that I just think that there is too much choice.
More books than there are readers
I think it's saying that ebook sales are up over last year, just not as much as we might have expected, considering all the hype that's been going around regarding the rise of ebooks. I will add that my husband has gone totally to ebooks.
DeleteI'm surprised that e-books do not comprise a larger percentage. Of course, with people struggling financially these days, I'm sure a lot of them are going to Half Price Books or the library. I'm sure that would greatly reflect sales especially hardback sales.
ReplyDeleteAnn
That's true, Ann. It seems like just about everybody has some electronic gadget to read on, from phones to iPads to book specific gadgets like Nooks or Kindles. Those devices may be too expensive for some to buy. But, if they do have one, the ebooks are often cheaper to buy than a print book.
DeleteI know I was guilty of downloading a bunch of e-books when I first received my Kindle, and that was Christmas a year ago. Now I'm still catching up on those reads, plus paperback, plus library. Too many books, so little time. Interesting stats though
ReplyDelete