Evidently it’s not as inevitable as some thought. According to the New York Times, e-book sales are experiencing a decline.
Now, there are signs that some e-book adopters are returning to print, or becoming hybrid readers, who juggle devices and paper. E-book sales fell by 10 percent in the first five months of this year, according to the Association of American Publishers, which collects data from nearly 1,200 publishers. Digital books accounted last year for around 20 percent of the market, roughly the same as they did a few years ago.
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.
E-book subscription services, modeled on companies like Netflix and Pandora, have struggled to convert book lovers into digital binge readers, and some have shut down. Sales of dedicated e-reading devices have plunged as consumers migrated to tablets and smartphones. And according to some surveys, young readers who are digital natives still prefer reading on paper.
I suspect it’s too soon to be really sure what’s going on. Michaelbrent Collings, an independent author who sells primarily e-books, thinks the market for e-books may be diversifying–and moving away from Amazon. Depending on how well publishers monitor these other sales streams, that may account for the decline right there. Independents especially may be finding ways to sell directly to consumers.
Five months does not a trend make or break. Did physical book sales rise? If not, it may be that other forms of digital entertaiment are eroding the e-reader customer base. But according to some booksellers, customer are indeed returning to physical books:
At BookPeople, a bookstore founded in 1970 in Austin, Tex., sales are up nearly 11 percent this year over last, making 2015 the store’s most profitable year ever, said Steve Bercu, the co-owner. He credits the growth of his business, in part, to the stabilization of print and new practices in the publishing industry, such as Penguin Random House’s so-called rapid replenishment program to restock books quickly.
This could be good news, especially if independent booksellers are benefiting most. Time will tell, as it always does.
That came across to me as though reading in general declined.