ePublish Yourself! Intelligence - 2014

Market intelligence for indie authors and epublishers

General

According to authors who responded to The Bookseller’s Digital Census, on a scale of 1 to 10—with 1 very unsatisfied and 10 very satisfied—traditionally published authors rated their experience as 5.7. Self-published authors, on the other hand, reported a much rosier 7.1. http://bit.ly/1wdQWob (November 10, 2014)

According to the same Digital Census, just less than half (48.1%) of self-published authors report that they have sold fewer than 1,000 ebooks. About a quarter (25.9%) claim to have sold between 1,000 and 5,000 copies. http://bit.ly/1wdQWob (November 10, 2014)

Three-quarters (76.5%) of publishers who responded to The Bookseller’s Digital Census believe that territorial rights are coming under increasing pressure in the evolving global ebook market. http://bit.ly/1wdQWob (November 10, 2014)

In the UK, print sales dropped by 10% in 2013, overall book sales shrank by 4%, while ebook sales were up 20%. (reaching 80 million titles). As an interesting sidelight to this, self-published books rose by 79% in a year, topping 18 million. http://bit.ly/U8hc7D (June 13, 2014)

The first eight months of 2013 saw ebook sales drop 5% (to $800 million) from the same period in the previous year in the U.S., according to the Association of American Publishers. Hardcover book sales rose 11.5% during the same period. http://bbc.in/OctIzC (March 31, 2014)

According to Nielsen research, 3.3 million ebooks were sold in April 2013 in the U.K., down 0.1% from the same period in the previous year. http://bbc.in/OctIzC (March 31, 2014)

According to a study with 800 respondents entitled The Evolution of the Book Industry: Implications for U.S. Book Manufacturers and Printers, nearly 70% of consumers feel unlikely to abandon print books by 2016. Likewise, 60% of downloaded ebooks are apparently never read (in the U.S.). http://bit.ly/1cL4QLr (March 10, 2014)

A survey by Voxburner reveals that among 1,400 16- to 24-year-olds in the U.K., nearly 62% say they prefer print books over ebooks. http://bit.ly/1cL4QLr (March 10, 2014)

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) reports that ebook sales were about $128 million (August, 2013), down 3% from the previous year. http://bit.ly/1cL4QLr (March 10, 2014)

U.S. publishers had revenues of $15 billion in 2012 according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), up 14% from 2008. Of that, ebook sales showed the most dramatic rise from a mere $68 million to $3 billion. http://yhoo.it/1ffKMka (February 14, 2014)

Ebook sales are healthy at several media companies, including Harper Collins (17% of sales), Hachette Book Group (33% of sales), and  Simon and Schuster (23% of sales). http://yhoo.it/1ffKMka (February 14, 2014)

Amazon

More than two-thirds (71.0%) of respondents to The Bookseller’s Digital Census said that they buy ebooks regularly from Amazon. That is more than five times as many as from the next most popular ebookstore, which is Apple’s iBookstore (13.4%). http://bit.ly/1wdQWob (November 10, 2014)

Forbes magazine estimates that sales of Kindle devices reached roughly 20 million in 2013, translating to about $3.9 billion in revenues for the Seattle-based online vendor. Ebook sales, while much lower, were also formidable at an estimated $265 to $530 million a year. http://onforb.es/1tSCaHX (April 2, 2014)

Apple

The iPad is now more popular than the Kindle (41.9% to 37.9%) for reading ebooks according to people who responded to The Bookseller’s Digital Census. http://bit.ly/1wdQWob (November 10, 2014)

Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble’s NOOK platform is now active in 32 countries and 14 languages. “This is the very tip of our international expansion,” NOOK Press general manager Theresa Horner told Digital Book World at the London Book Fair, “with countries like India, Singapore, and Spanish-language markets … promising targets for expansion.” http://bit.ly/1kKIf0v (April 9, 2014)

The NOOK segment (including digital content, devices and accessories) had revenues of $157 million for the quarter ending January 25, 2014, down 50.4% from a year ago. Device and accessories sales were $100 million for the quarter, similarly down 58.2% from a year earlier. Digital content sales, meanwhile, were $57 million for the quarter, a decline of 26.5% compared to a year ago. http://bit.ly/1nD6Q9F (February 26, 2014)

Kobo

Subscription Services

More than a quarter (28.8%) of publishers responding to The Bookseller’s Digital Census said they now sell subscriptions. Just over half (50.7%) believe it will become a viable in the future. http://bit.ly/1wdQWob (November 10, 2014)

As report by Digital Book World, Simon & Schuster is adding more than 10,000 titles to the Oyster and Scribd catalogs. Oyster and Scribd offer about 500,000 and 400,00 ebooks respectively. Notably, Simon & Schuster authors will have access to the data on readers purchasing and reading habits for their titles. http://bit.ly/1vFxgfD (May 21, 2014)

Magazines

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