March 7 through 13 is Read an E-Book Week!
If you have any doubt about the success of ebooks, doubt no further. The Association of American Publishers found ebook sales increased 176 percent in 2009. Incredible! Certainly worth celebrating.
Publishers Weekly’s eBook forum, Think Future, recognized the significance of ebooks in the market but unfortunately focused on aesthetics of the format rather than more important issues such as piracy, and how to make ebook profits more equitable to authors. Ironic, since PW recently published findings of "massive piracy" in which publishers lose about $3 billion (yes, with a b) due to illegal sharing. (It is not a compliment to an author to share a book you love. Share it in a review, certainly, but please don't take hard-earned wages from authors by forwarding ebooks to others. Thank you.) Despite warnings, book sites continue to share ebooks illegally.
And though the device may change, ebooks will endure, whether delivered via HTML, PDF, or a mobile phone app. Ebook readers may be in a state of flux, but pre-Christmas Kindle sales pleased Amazon. And the Nook seems to be popular too.
The Book Industry Study Group is conducting the inaugural study of readers' attitudes toward ebooks through July 2010. Those results should prove interesting reading.
Traditional publishing houses such as Random House are staking out their ebook niches, somewhat akin to bulls in a china shop. Just today, Barnes and Noble announced they'd try bundling print and ebooks. Another interesting development to watch.
This video on the Social Media Revolution illustrations the trend toward digital in everything from "friending" people to hiring new employees. The point about advertising is interesting, though somewhat disturbing that marketers would make such choices for us. But that's another issue, for another blog.
If you’re looking for a few suggestions on great ebooks, check out mine! Whichever authors you like, I urge you to support them by buying their ebooks, not just during Read an E-Book Week, but all year.
