Once again, my wise and beautiful daughter has captured the essense of forecasting. This time, in a single sentence.
eBook sales surge for January
“Dad,” she said, pointing at the shelves of books, “do you think people will still want these?”
In hindsight, I can answer, “Some of them.”
Another milestone in publishing, revealed when the post-holiday sales totals were released. eBook sales, those downloads intended for Kindles, Nooks, and other electronic reading devices, out-sold hardbacks for the month of January.
Part of that was brought about by new owners, who had received the digital devices as a gift, and needed something to try it out with.
The Association of American Publishers says the eBook sales more than doubled from the previous year, while sales of hardback books dropped by some six million. Mass market paperbacks, the ones sold at the checkout counters, dropped even further from 56.4 million to 39 million – said to be caused by the dimming eyes of baby boomers who bought larger print books instead.
There will be a day, I’m certain, that lower prices of digital readers and the deaths of paper-book lovers will render printed volumes to something akin to novelties, much like eight-track tapes or vinyl records.
I contend, however, that – so long as there remain authors with egos – there will be a proud place on the bookshelf for a printed copy of a just-published work.
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Inlandia Press has Tulsa metro news online.