ePublish Yourself! Intelligence - 2012

Market intelligence for indie authors and epublishers

General

Ebook sales surpassed print-book sales at Amazon in the UK, tallying 114 ebooks for every 100 print books sold this year. http://zd.net/RCBbr9 (August 8, 2012)

Print books represented 99 percent of the overall book market just a few years ago, but now ebooks account for 25 to 30 percent of sales in the US, says Mark Coker (founder of Smashwords) in Forbes Magazine. The UK is not far behind and catching up. http://onforb.es/PZCmf6 (July 25, 2012)

Notwithstanding self-publishing superstars such as Amanda Hocking and EL James, The Guardian (UK) reports that the average indie author made just $10,000 (£6,375), less than 10% earned roughly 75% of the revenue, and half made less than $500http://bit.ly/MsoVEM (May 24, 2012)

The Guardian (UK) further reports that, according to a survey by Dave Cornford and Steven Lewis (Taleist website), romance writers earned 170% more than their peers. In comparison, “science-fiction writers earned 38% of the $10,000 average, fantasy writers 32%, and literary fiction authors just 20% of the $10,000 average.” http://bit.ly/MsoVEM (May 24, 2012)

HarperCollins announced that worldwide digital sales for the recent quarter rebounded to nearly 18 percenthttp://bit.ly/me6iGl (May 10, 2012)

Digital Book World reported that the Association of American Publishers has released data that ebook revenue went from $73.2 million in January 2011 to $128.8 million in January 2012, a 76% increase. http://bit.ly/Heqelx (March 28, 2012)

Digital Book World also reported that the Association of American Publishers notes that children’s ebook revenue grew 475.1% from $3.9 million to $22.6 million, while adult trade ebooks rose from $66.6 million to $99.5 million. Religious ebooks grew 150.7% in January, from $2.7 million to $6.7 million. http://bit.ly/Heqelx (March 28, 2012)

Amazon

Talking about KDP Select, Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content, noted “Every time a customer borrowed an independently-published book in March, the author earned $2.18. That’s more than many authors earn when their books are sold.” http://bit.ly/PBxIYj (April 4, 2012)

 

Apple

As reported by David Carnoy at cnet, Mark Coker at Smashwords notes that 45 percent of Smashwords’ Apple iBookstore sales are from outside the U.S. http://cnet.co/aUkJXD (June 1, 2012)

 

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

According to its own press release, since its inception in 2009, Kobo has built a global base of over 10 million registered users in 190 countries, and one of the largest e-book stores in the world with 3 million books, newspapers, and magazineshttp://bit.ly/PvgJs7 (August 29, 2012)

The Toronto-based, Japanese owned, e-reader company has struck a deal with the American Booksellers Association to sell its device and ebooks through independent U.S. bookstores. http://bit.ly/PsT0o7 (August 29, 2012)

Kobo is offering self-published authors that  use its Kobo Writing Life platform an additional 10 percent in royalties (80% rather than 70%) on applicable titles published between September 1, 2012 and November 30, 2012. Kobo launched the Writing Life platform in June at BookExpo America, seeing a 700 percent increase in sales since then for self-published titles. http://bit.ly/P8kweV (August 24, 2012)

Toronto’s Indigo Books & Music Inc. sold Kobo Inc. to Japan’s Rakuten Inc. for US$315 million in a deal that closed in January, 2012. Indigo founded Kobo and spun it off in 2009. http://bit.ly/Anm6X8 (January 12, 2012)

 

Subscription Services

 

Magazines

The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations) reported that digital replicas (digital versions of print editions) account for just 1.7 percent of total circulation. (August 7, 2012)

 

International

Paidcontent.org reports that 24% of Indian adults with Internet access have bought an ebook, according to Kelly Gallagher of Bowker. Similarly, 18% of Brazilian adults have done so. http://bit.ly/MstSkB (June 4, 2012)

Kelly Gallagher of Bowker notes that 80 percent of Indian ebook buyers purchase business or professional titles; nearly 75 percent of Brazilian ebook buyers do the same. http://bit.ly/MstSkB (June 4, 2012)

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