Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Explosion of ebook sales

I've read a number of interesting stats lately about the explosion of ebook sales on Amazon.com. The site now sells more ebooks than traditional hardcovers, and something like 46 ebooks for every 100 printed books. (I would cite my source for that second number, but I unfortunately can't find the link where I first read it!) It's unclear whether the recent price drop of Kindle, or the release of the Kindle app for the new iPad, or something else, is responsible for the spike.

Here's a link for a tidbit from Publishers' Weekly confirming that publishers agree that they're selling more ebooks than hardcovers via amazon:
Another inspiring read for us ebook writers is the tale of Karen McQuestion, who, after seven years of trying to get a romance published, self-published her novel A Scattered Life via Amazon's Kindle. The book has now been downloaded more than 30,000 times and has been optioned for movie rights. It too could happen to you (or me)! Check out her site at www.karenmcquestion.com (natch).

5 comments:

Margaret Tanner said...

Hi Linda,
Very interesting blog. I wonder which e-books are being downloaded though. The small indi/e-publishers started e-books, but I fear they will be swamped by the big publishers who initialy ridiculed the idea but are now muscling in on e-publishing to the detriment of the smaller players.

regards

Margaret

CJ Parker said...

I bought a new Kindle when the price went down and gave my Nook to my hubby. The one thing I will say about buying eBooks is, it's a pain in the rear to walk those virtual aisles looking for a book. I've started going back to my RT Book Review magazines to find books to order. But I do love reading eBooks.

Linda Morris said...

I agree with you, CJ, about the browsing issue. The Internet in general is great for finding those specific items that you know you want, but nothing beats browsing a bricks-and-mortar store and picking up things at random for finding new things, IMO. I still have a hard time imagining ebooks will ever kill off traditional books completely, and I wouldn't want them to, but they're good for some things (instant gratification, among others!).

Ceri Hebert said...

This was one reason I chose to submit my latest manuscript to an epublisher rather than Kensington. I must admit, though, there's nothing in the world like holding your own book in print.

P.L. Parker said...

I read that too. Exciting for all of us e-book authors.

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