Are you in your golden years (or what my family refers to as the “Freedom 55” years)? Then chances are you’re buying way more books than before, according to Book Marketing Limited Research Director Steve Bohme. “The growth in the silver-age group was most spectacular in the last year, when unit sales rose from 118m to 127m,” said Bohme. “They have more time to read, more disposable income, and they also buy more books for themselves.”
But while one sector’s increased their book buying output, pirates are doing their best to cut into market shares, as Tim Renner, former Chairman and CEO of Universal Music, Germany, pointed out. “You have to be as good as the pirate is,” Renner said. “Don’t cut out the middleman. Publishers, as much as you love your product, it doesn’t matter to the consumer, in the same way that record buyers aren’t bothered whether Madonna is on Warner or EMI. You need to help retailers develop the sales of digital content on the net. It makes no sense to act alone.”