Photo Credit: Julie Griffin
Okay guys, anyone who reads about books or the publishing industry on any kind of regular basis has read at some point in the last couple of years about the demise of printed books. I know I have. I’ve always been the person to roll my eyes and acknowledge that those writing such pieces had no real information to back up their claims that printed books were a dying product.
I know what you’re thinking. What about Kindle? Or even iBooks or the Nook? Ebooks have certainly changed the publishing industry, there’s no doubt about that, but to say that ebooks have moved printed books toward the brink of extinction has never been close to reality. Obviously when something new comes along everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. Ebooks saw triple digit rates of growth for years, until 2013 saw the rate slip into the single digits. With the first six months of 2014 showing evidence that the growth rates of ebooks may have leveled off with ebooks making up just 23 percent of the market, with hardcovers at 25 percent, and paperbacks at 42 percent. Look at that. People are buying those big, bulky, overly expensive hardcovers more than they are buying ebooks at the moment.
Ebooks aren’t going anywhere, but neither are printed books. So I kindly ask that you stop writing articles that are strictly your opinion with no basis in fact. Thanks.
You can read an article on the topic here.
Johnny Reads 
Completely agree, and I’m always happy to read the common sense of other people on this issue. Technology, the pinnacle of our society and our symbol of progress, is also by definition disposable. People don’t even like to have phones or tablets from a year ago. How can these same people be going, “Yes, ebooks are without a doubt the future”? Because we can totally predict where technology is going.
You know what we can ACTUALLY predict based off of historical evidence? That physical books are some of the most enduring objects humans have. They are not going anywhere.
Thanks for writing.
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Couldn’t agree more!
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I never thought print books would go out of style, but I am surprised by the numbers, I thought ebooks had a higher percentage, at least over hardbacks!
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I have to agree with John on this one. We’ve seen a definite increase in print sales over the last year or so. In fact some of our titles sell more in print than in the same E-book equivalent. Yes, E-books seem made for some kinds of fiction and E-books are very portable, but, as with all things, there are also disadvantages, like when you’ve finished a great book, passing it on to a friend. There’s also a resale advantage. But the final issue will always be a good book’s physical presence. The only area where E-books win hands down are in the area of FREE books, and to me, that’s technically no advantage at all.
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I endured no end of teasing at my office for refusing to switch over to ebooks… Yes, New Yorkers are all crammed into tiny spaces, and our books, if we let them, might very well bury us alive. But, when I eventually broke down, I just renewed my library card and got the print books out of there.
The one thing I will give ebooks, is that it seemed to me some people who hadn’t been reading much before decided to get in on them now that they were “trendy.” (No comment on if they continued reading more when it became less cool)
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Lord I hope so! Nooks and Kindles are fine for travel, but give me a hard back or paper backed book any day of the week! 🙂
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Yes I think there is definitely an unforgettable sensation when it comes to holding a book. We have so much technology in our lives nowadays, it’s nice to hold something that isn’t metallic or plastic…and get something entertaining or insightful from it.
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