The population of e-book readers is growing. In the past year, the number of those who read e-books increased from 16% of all Americans ages 16 and older to 23%. At the same time, the number of those who read printed books in the previous 12 months fell from 72% of the population ages 16 and older to 67%.
number of owners of either a tablet computer or e-book reading device such as a Kindle or Nook grew from 18% in late 2011 to 33% in late 2012. As of November 2012, some 25% of Americans ages 16 and older own tablet computers such as iPads or Kindle Fires, up from 10% who owned tablets in late 2011. And in late 2012 19% of Americans ages 16 and older own e-book reading devices such as Kindles and Nooks, compared with 10% who owned such devices at the same time last year.
They’ve already worked their way into most presses’ planning, according to an AAUP survey on digital-publishing strategies released just ahead of the meeting. The survey, “Digital Book Publishing Strategies in the AAUP Community,” collected responses from 80 presses, or 60 percent of the association’s membership.
In his experience, university presses get 60 to 70 percent of their retail revenues from Amazon sales now.
The discussion no longer revolves around whether presses need e-books but what business model or models incorporating them will work best in the current climate.
More notable findings: Ninety-three percent of responding presses reported that they’re pursuing short-run digital printing and/or print on demand for their backlist titles; more than 70 percent are doing the same for their new or front-list titles. Eighty-six percent sell certain e-book titles through aggregators. Almost 60 percent are trying print-on-demand for foreign distribution—a new category on the survey. And a quarter of those surveyed said they’re trying out short-form digital books, like Princeton’s Digital Shorts series (tagline: “Short Takes, Big Ideas”).