According to Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report, adult hardcover sales decreased 11 percent in August and adult paperback sales dipped nearly six percent. As you can see by the year-to-date chart embedded above, both categories have seen 18 percent declines this year.
Nevertheless, the AAP stayed positive about eBook sales: “Strong, continuing revenue gains from digital formats in the Trade market – both e-books and downloaded audiobooks – helped offset declines in revenue from physical formats, resulting in only nominal, near-identical decreases vs the previous year’s and YTD’s figures … The survey also noted 96% of e-reader users say they purchased one or more e-books in the past year and 36% of e-reader users are reading more than a year ago.”
Do you think eBook sales can ever replace these growing declines in print sales?