Most of my information is taken from the Publisher's Weekly Online edition.
http://www.publishersweekly.com
It's been an interesting week in the publishing industry to say the least.
Here a couple of items and my commentary.
1. EBooks continue to do outstanding in today's market. Sales figures reported in 2010 estimate that ebook sales jumped to 164.4% totaling $441.3 million. These figures were reported by 14 publishers who report to the Association of American Publishers. Knowing there are a lot more than 14 publishers out there, I have no doubt the numbers are higher.
Steph's thoughts: ebooks continue to grow in popularity. Ereaders do for books what Mp3s and ITunes have done for music. I see sales steadily continuing to increase.
Question: Is the digital transition to ereaders a cause of economic uncertainty for authors?
Steph's thoughts: I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Bestselling author Margaret Atwood recently addressed a tech-orientated publishing talk and seemed to believe it was. For me, just knowing how much ebook sales have risen, I would say no, at least from an economic point of view. As far as the traditional publishing model, and the big traditional publishers, there is more room for uncertainty, especially since so much goes into producing, printing, and marketing of print books.
Food for thought: What's the best way to sell an ebook?
2. So what makes this week interesting? The news that major book seller, Borders, has filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy will allow Borders to restructure into a leaner book seller. Out of 642 stores in the USA, 200 will close.
What does that mean for authors? For Readers? What did Borders do wrong? Were they too late switching to the ereader Kobo? I'd love to hear your thoughts about Borders and the publishing world this week.
Smiles
Steph
I don't know what the fallout will be from the Borders bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've always heard from authors, editors, and agents - the best way to sell a book is to write a damn good one. The news will spread virally. Even so, I write blogs and pal around social networks. Seems like with a small pub its one of the few ways to get your name out there.
Provocative post.
Maggie
Maggie,
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how the fallback will effect the publishing world. I went to Borders after taking the boys to the movies today and it was packed! Everything was 20% off and the checkout line must have been 30 mins. I couldn't wait that long with a 4 year old. With them leaving my area, the only bookstore in the area now is Barnes & Noble.
Smiles
Steph