Some articles to check out.
Is Print Dead? By J.A. Konrath (Huffington Post)
Highly entertaining – and thought-provoking – conversation at “Obsolete Anonymous” meeting. Print Industry is a new member being given a dose of reality by old members like VHS Tapes, LP Records, TV Antennas, Typewriter, Arcades, and even Buggy Whip Industry.
(Note that I personally don't think print is dead or ever will be - print books will continue to exist for a long time, just in much smaller volume.)
New Thriller Sells More E-Books Than Hardcovers (Wall Street Journal)
HarperCollins announced that Laura Lippman's new thriller, I'd Know You Anywhere, sold more ebooks than hardcovers in the first five days after release on August 17. This is the first book of theirs to do this--they even provide exact numbers of 4739 ebooks to 4000 hardcovers.
Some of the big publishers say that ebooks, which last year accounted for about 4% of sales, are up to 8% of total revenue now.
Reading in a Whole New Way By Kevin Kelly (Smithsonian Magazine, August 2010)
The author worries that reading on-screen "nurtures action over contemplation". But he also sees benefits to dynamic, instantly available and always available information.
"Today some 4.5 billion digital screens illuminate our lives. Words have migrated from wood pulp to pixels on computers, phones, laptops, game consoles, televisions, billboards and tablets. Letters are no longer fixed in black ink on paper, but flitter on a glass surface in a rainbow of colors as fast as our eyes can blink. Screens fill our pockets, briefcases, dashboards, living room walls and the sides of buildings. They sit in front of us when we work—regardless of what we do. We are now people of the screen. And of course, these newly ubiquitous screens have changed how we read and write."
[...]
"We live on screens of all sizes—from the IMAX to the iPhone. In the near future we will never be far from one. Screens will be the first place we’ll look for answers, for friends, for news, for meaning, for our sense of who we are and who we can be."
What eReader Price Point Needs to be Reached for the Next eBook Sea Change? By Todd Ogasawara on Aug 10, 2010
"It wouldn't surprise me if eBook reading devices drop below $100 by the 2010 holiday buying season and approaches $79.99 or even $49.99 by the 2011 holiday buying season."
What happens in the Cave doesn't always stay there... Conversations and news from Ellora's Cave Publishing, an erotic romance publisher.
2 comments:
I completely agree with the pricing predictions. I think the readers will be right around $100 for the holiday shoppers this December.
Ebooks are definitely making waves!
I've had my nook for less than six weeks, and I've already bought as many ebooks as I normally buy paperbacks in a year. Reading is sooo enjoyable now, it's much more convenient, and (unfortunately for my wallet) it leads to impulse buying!
Let's just say that by the end of a year, Angela Knight will be able to buy a pair of VERY expensive shoes, courtesy of moi.
You're welcome, Angela.
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