eBooks US sales jumped more than 200 percent in February.
 Click to enlarge |
There has been “powerful growth of books on digital platforms” on both e-Books and audiobooks, say publishers.
And extraordinary growth it has been, indeed. e-Books have enjoyed triple-digit percentage growthof 202.3 percent, compared to the same period last year, to $90.3m, overtaking paperbacks which stood at at $81.2m.
Audiobook downloads have also jumped over one third (36.7 percent) in a year, according to the Association of American Publishers.
The report, compiled from figures from the U.S. book publishing industry, tracks publishers’ sales revenue in all book categories, and includes educational titles.
This comes as several hard hitters in the book retail industry including Borders as well as Angus and Robertson have been forced to shut down stores in Australia due to the onset on the digital downloads and the ascendency of e-readers like the Amazon Kindle, Kobo e-reader and iPad.
Just recently eReader Kobo said it had received an unexpected sales boost thanks to the demise of bricks and mortar book retailers here.
e-Books is now ranked as the #1 format among all categories of trade publishing which includes adult hardcover, mass market and paperback, surpassing paper equivalents.
This surge is primarily attributed to a high level of post-holiday e-Book buying, or “loading,” by consumers who received e-Readers as gifts.
Additionally, e-Books have generated fresh consumer interest in backlist titles, books that have been in print for at least a year.
Year on year e-Books grew 169.4 percent to US$164.1m while the combined categories of print books fell 24.8 percent to $441.7M.
“The public is embracing the breadth and variety of reading choices available to them. They have made e-Books permanent additions to their lifestyle while maintaining interest in print format books,” says Tom Allen, CEO of AAP.
Book publishers have been leading the development of the new digital division, he said.
” By extending their work as developers of high-quality content to emerging technologies, publishers are constantly redefining the timeless concept of ‘books,”‘ he said.
The AAP figures represents data provided by 84 U.S. publishing houses.