A recent survey shows print readers are still pretty attached to paper books and advises publishers to retain as much retail space as they can to avoid losing print readers altogether.

Codex Group’s “Book Publishing Digital Transition Report: 1st Quarter 2011” surveyed more than 9,000 book buyers in February.

It found that many more people now have some sort of e-reader.
However, the percentage of people who say they read only ebooks was below 1 percent. By contrast, 40 percent of readers say they read only print books.

Peter Hildick-Smith, president of Codex, expects the number of people who read ebooks to rise while the number of people who say they only read treebooks declines.

More than one-third of those surveyed say they read both print and digital books. A quarter of the people who only read print book are thinking about trying an e-reader.

The report concludes that the high number of readers who want to read only print books – combined with those who read both ebooks and treebooks – demonstrates how critical it is for booksellers to preserve as much retail space as possible in order to avoid losing print readers altogether.

Codex predicts that 43 percent of book buyers will own an e-reading device by the end of the year. However, it also found little indication that consumers plan to stop buying and reading print books.

Makes sense to me. I’m one of those folks who has a Kindle and enjoys reading on it. However, I’m still loving my treebooks as well. I get that familiar thrill when I buy a real book from a favorite author. I have no plans to stop.

Just like I plan to keep reading on my Kindle. I’m even toying with asking for a Nook on my next birthday. I’m a lover of books and I love them in all forms.

Amazon’s experiment with lower priced ebooks is impacting the online retailer’s bestseller list and might be influencing Avon’s decision to discount about 60 of its titles as well.

Almost one-third of the books in Amazon’s top 100 are part of the company’s Kindle Sunshine Deals.

According to paidcontent.org, about 80 percent – 24 books – were not Kindle bestsellers before prices were slashed.

The two-week promotion includes lower pricing on about 650 ebooks. The prices range from $0.99 to $2.99. The Sunshine Deals all come from small- to mid-sized publishers like Candlewick, Bloomsbury and Sourcebooks.

The apparent enthusiasm for discounted titles is in keeping with a recent survey which found that the heaviest buyers of ebooks are significantly influenced by low prices.

My critique partner is one of those people. She’s purchased so many of the lower-priced ebooks in the last couple of days, that her credit card company’s fraud department called to make sure her card hadn’t been stolen. I guess they thought they had a bargain book thief on their hands?     

Right now the major publishers set their own prices and pay Amazon a commission. The success of Sunshine Deals could influence them to lower prices. Avon might already be convinced. The publisher tweets that it will slash prices on about 60 of its titles.

On Twitter and Facebook, Avon announced its “Summer Sale,” with titles available for $1.99 and $2.99. Sophie Jordan’s “Wicked Nights with a Lover,” (above right) is one of the reduced titles. It is now $2.99.

I love Jordan so, of course, I bought it. In fact, I purchased so many books at Avon’s summer sale that Amazon had to remind me that I had already purchased one that I tried to buy.

If this trend of reducing ebook prices continues, I foresee big trouble ahead for me!   

It looks like publishers want in on all of that ebook action that’s allowed little-known and self-published authors to make their mark in digital books.

Amazon has launched Kindle Sunshine Deals – a two-week promotion which includes lower pricing on about 650 ebooks. The prices range from $0.99 to $2.99. The Sunshine deals all come from small- to mid-sized publishers like Candlewick, Bloomsbury and Sourcebooks.

Most titles were published at least a year ago. However, sale-priced pre-orders are available for “The Soldier” by Grace Burrowes and “Wish You Were Here” by Philippa Ashley.

None of the ebooks currently offered at the lower prices appears to be from the six major U.S. publishers. Those publishers use the agency model, which allows them to set their own ebook prices and then pay Amazon a commission. However, although they are not involved, the “Big Six” are paying attention.

Sunshine Deals is “an opportunity for publishers to test compelling pricing coupled with on-site merchandising,” Sarah Gelman, PR Manager at Amazon, told PaidContent.org. “We’re excited about the number of publishers who are participating.”

Does this mean the big publishers might one day adjust their pricing? The recent Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading survey shows the most active ebook buyers are heavily influenced by free samples and low prices.

If Sunshine deals drive sales, it’s likely major publishers could soon be looking to offer more discounts on their ebooks…and that’s great news for readers!