Ebooks, Young Adult Fiction Help Spark Book Resurgence
Despite the closing of Borders, it looks like things are not quite so gloomy for the book industry after all.
Ebooks, along with juvenile and adult fiction, are driving a resurgence of the book industry.
Instead of shrinking, the publishing industry has expanded in the last three years, according to BookStats, which is published by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group.
BookStats looks at net sales revenue and unit data reported by almost 2,000 U.S. publishers. It tracks sales and units by format and category.
Publishers sold 5.6 percent more books in 2010 than they did in 2008, according to the report. More than 2.5 billion books were sold in all formats in 2010. That’s a 4 percent hike over 2008.
Americans of all ages are actively reading in all print and digital formats. Juvenile and adult fiction have made some big annual gains.
Fiction aimed at children, teens and young adults rose 7 percent over the three years in net sales revenue and 12 percent in net unit sales.
“The BookStats study indicates that the publishing industry is healthy and growing during a time of unprecedented change,” says Dominique Raccah, founder and CEO of Sourcebooks, who chairs the BookStats committee.
And the numbers are likely to grow. The BookStats report does not include sales from 2011, which has seen a surge in ebook sales.
Check out more details of the report here.
I read in all formats. I’m guessing many others will continue to do the same.
I do as well. As I’ve commented before on this site, I often go for the best buy on a book, in whatever format. The exception is when I go on vacation. I buy all ebooks for vacation. The bummer is I can’t have my Kindle on during landing or takeoff.