Curious how, when it’s declining ebook numbers that are reported, this rationale is set aside and its all about consumer disaffection with the format, screen fatigue, or whatever the latest print-good-ebooks-bad mantra is.
NPD Bookscan numbers put total unit print sales at 788.7 million last year, down from 843.1 million in 2021, but still 11.8% above those from 2019.
Jim Milliot at PW explains:
The decline was not a surprise: many in the industry had predicted that as Covid lockdowns were lifted and more entertainment and travel options opened up, interest in reading would fall.
Fair comment. But curious how, when it’s declining ebook numbers that are reported, this rationale is set aside and its all about consumer disaffection with the format, screen fatigue, or whatever the latest print-good-ebooks-bad mantra is.
But fear not, ebooks aren’t mentioned in this article from Publishers Weekly, so enjoy the detail in PW’s summary of the BookScan report.
Great, Mark, clicking on the PW link takes us to a page where we’re asked to Get IMMEDIATE ACCESS to Publishers Weekly for only $15/month.
Let’s face it. Subscription and advertising suck. There’s a different way to monetize. Stay tuned.
LOL! I share your frustration. But until a better solution – maybe yours!- not just comes along, but is widely used, then we are where we are.
I long for an opportunity to make a micropayment to just read what I need. In my job I’m constantly hitting paywalls for access to the one and only article I need in a particular journal – but again, we are where we are, for now at least.
Good luck with the alternatives!