The results from the Book Industry Study Group’s “Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading” survey are now available! Thanks to Publishers Weekly magazine’s interpretation of the findings, here are the trends that we found to be important:
- Kindle and Nook are growing in popularity. Even those who were reading e-books before on different platforms are jumping on the Kindle/Nook bandwagon. Yes, more e-book readers are now opting to use dedicated e-readers to read their e-books. Fewer people are reading e-books on a computer.
- Fans of the e-book aren’t going anywhere. People who were e-book readers before are becoming even more devoted to the electronic versions of books. In fact, their purchases of e-books have only continued to rise, while their purchases of print books continue to fall. About 67% of e-book buyers said they increased their spending on e-books since last fall; 45% said they reduced spending on hardcovers.
- Amazon still rules. Amazon is the leader in the book-selling industry. E-books are no exception. More than 70% of e-book buyers report making their purchases through Amazon. Barnes and Noble remains a distant second (27%), with the iBookstore and iTunes remaining below 10%.
- Price matters. One of the greatest appeals of the e-book has always been the price. But e-book prices have actually risen over the last year (around 25%) which e-book readers claim has prevented them from purchasing more e-books. (Imagine what the stats would be if the prices had remained the same!)
- Free excerpts rule! According to e-book readers, having access to free chapters or samples had the biggest impact on getting them to buy an e-book. In fact, this seems to be more of a decision-maker than online reviews.
So, authors, keep those e-books coming. They just may be your path to the bestseller list!