More News on the E-book Revolution

Every few months, I like to report on the latest studies on e-books. While many writers have been publishing e-books for four or five years, the industry is still in its infancy and suffering inevitable growing pains. Having said that, according to a recent Harris poll mentioned in bookseller.com, the number of Americans using e-book readers has almost doubled over the past twelve months, up to 15% from 8% this time last year. Furthermore, one in six Americans intends to buy an e-reader within six months.

As I’ve mentioned from earlier studies, people who read e-books, also read more books than print readers. Not surprisingly, they also buy more books as well. In this study, about 17% of book buyers purchased between 11 and 20 books a year, while another 17% purchased 21 or more books a year.

Genre fiction still sells best: crime and thrillers (47%), science fiction (25%), literature (23%), and romance (23%). In non-fiction, the most popular category is biography at 29%, then history (27%) and religion and spirituality (24%). You can find more info at http://www.thebookseller.com/news/number-americans-reading-e-books-doubles.html

The latest issue of BC BookWorld Magazine (Vol. 25, No. 3, Autumn 2011) published an interview with Paul Whitney, who is the former chief librarian for the Burnaby Public Library and the Vancouver Public Library. Whitney was hired by the Public Lending Right Commission to investigate the impact of e-books for PLR’s program. Whitney found that trade print sales were down by 19% in the U.S. and that their decline is increasing; however, this decrease isn’t nearly as dramatic in Canada, right now anyway. Whitney does envision that things will become much tougher for bookstores down the road and he foresees many more store closures.

As far as libraries are concerned, print still rules. Only 2% of books borrowed from libraries are e-books, but again this figure will change. One of the problems libraries face, according to Whitney, is that there are simply too many books in the world, and that the tidal wave of new books every year is overwhelming, so the problem is which e-books to purchase?

Many other points were raised in the article (this is one of several articles about e-books and libraries in the autumn issue), but the bottom line is that writers, publishers, and others involved in the publishing industry are worried about the loss of control in a digital future. It’s interesting because if you read blogs by people like Joe Konrath, Dean Wesley Smith, and others, the digital world is all about regaining control. Clearly, it depends on your viewpoint and your strategy. If you read last week’s blog about one writer’s clash between traditional and self-publishing, you’ll see another glaring example of control issues. If you’d like to know more about the interview with Whitney, visit the website at http://www.abcbookworld.com/. I would encourage any Canadian writer to subscribe to this incredibly informative magazine.

THE OPPOSITE OF DARK, http://bit.ly/i983XE, Chapters/Indigo http://bit.ly/gtFSFw
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Good News: People are Reading More, or Are They?

In today’s tough economy, with publishing house staff facing layoffs and too many bookstores edging closer to bankruptcy, you might be surprised to learn that reading is actually on the rise, according to a study conducted by the United States Census Bureau in 2008. The study reports that for the first time since 1982, the number of adults who’ve read a novel, short story, poem or play in the past twelve months has increased. The number of literary novels being read isn’t as high as it was in 1982, or even 1992, yet there has been a dramatic rise among eighteen to twenty-four year olds.

Several times over the past decade, I’ve heard anecdotes about the “dumbing down” of America, about people refusing to read any kind of novel that requires thinking. I’ve also heard that the average American reads at the level of a grade five student. I have no idea if this is true, but if more people are reading literary works, the dumbing down trend is certainly debatable.

Critics of these types of studies also argue that reading never really went down. People simply chose to do their reading online rather than by purchasing a book. Also, earlier studies apparently didn’t differentiate between people who read several books a month to those who read only one poem. Nor did the study differentiate between those who read Charles Dickens or Nora Roberts. So, take all of this with a grain of salt. And keep reading! Read a lot! Read everything and enjoy yourself! Which reminds me, a friend sent me the words of wisdom below. I’ve heard them before and I thought I’d share.

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “Woo Hoo what a ride!”

It wouldn’t hurt to have a couple of paperbacks in your back pocket either :)

To read excerpts of Taxed to Death and Fatal Encryption visit www.debrapurdykong.com