The Print Books Renaissance Continues
July 15, 2016
Publishers Weekly reports that sales of print books have continued to rise in the first half of 2016.
Nielsen BookScan’s survey of outlets found that unit sales of print books rose by 6% as of July 3, which follows a 3% increase in unit sales of print books last year. The top-selling print book so far this year is a perennial favorite: Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Electronic book sales, meanwhile, are dropping, Forbes reports; last year, sales of trade ebooks dropped by 11%, according to an annual report from the Association of American Publishers. (The trade category includes fiction and nonfiction works aimed at a general audience, but not educational or professional books.)
Overall, ebook sales dropped to 17% of all book sales in 2015 from 19% in 2014, and 21% in 2013.
It’s unclear whether ebooks will ultimately win out, given that younger people are reading more and are more likely to read in ebook format, according to surveys by Pew Research.
Related news: Barnes & Noble’s brick-and-mortar sales performed better than their online sales in its third fiscal quarter, according to Fortune.
Image Credit: Glen Noble.
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This is great news! As someone who loves print books and is a FORMER e-book reader, I can say that I'm glad to see print gaining on its digital counterpart. My studio is interested in self-publishing (in print) so it makes me excited to put more print into the world at a time when its life is being revived.