The Economist Publishes an Online Essay About the Future of the Book
The five-chapter essay (5000+ words) is titled, “From Papyrus to Pixels: The Digital Transformation Has Only Just Begun.”
A few highlights:
In 2013 around 1.4 million International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNS) were issued, according to Bowker, a research firm, up from around 8,100 in 1960. Those figures do not capture the many e-books that are being self-published without an ISBN.
… last year e-books accounted for around 30% of consumer book sales (not including professional and educational books) in America… In Germany… e-books were around 5% of consumer book sales last year.
Amazon is believed to control nearly half of total book sales and about two-thirds of e-book sales in America.
Already the average amount American consumers say the paid for a book (averaging both print and e-books) has declined around 40% since 2009, from $15.45 in 2009 to $9.31 last year.
There are many more fascinating data and evaluations about publishers, authors, prices, standards, ideas and genres.