It’s that time of the year again. Most people in the Western World are spending every free moment doing their holiday shopping, which means that sales should go up in nearly every category over the next six weeks.
But what about books? What type of books is projected to sell the most? How can you maximize the sale of your book this holiday season? All indications point in one direction: e-books!
According to projections in the New York Times and Publishers Weekly, one of the most popular gifts this year will be an e-reader. They’re now available in many different formats (see some descriptions here) and have gone down in price to under $150. So many people who couldn’t have afforded a Kindle as a gift last year will be buying something equivalent this year.
This expected rise in e-readers will have two serious influences on book purchasing this holiday season:
- People will be buying less hardcover books before Christmas. Many people will be buying that e-reader instead of the hardcover novel they would have bought as a gift last year.
- People will be buying MORE e-books AFTER Christmas. In the New York Times, Carolyn Reidy, president and chief executive of Simon & Schuster, is quoted as saying that she expects e-book sales to shoot up on Christmas Day, when people open up their e-readers and immediately start buying books.
In short, this means that all authors should be paying attention to their e-book this holiday season. If your book isn’t available in electronic form yet, talk to your publisher and/or Amazon about making it available. Include links to buy your e-book on your website, and make them as prominent as the links to buy your hardcover. You only have six weeks left before the e-book craze begins, so make the most of them!