Wednesday News: Amazon’s making bank on shorts; B&N sales are in decline; and Young adults enjoy print books
Publishing NewsBarnes & Noble / Self-publishing / social media / Young-Adult13 Comments
Making Millions in the Digital Middle– Rob Eager posts on the Digital Book World blog that shorter content in varying price points could be a real money make for publishers. Eagar points to Amazon’s success with Kindle Singles. Amazon is selling a variety of lengths and type of content at a price point between $.99 to $4.99. One of the most successful self published authors around is H.M. Ward who regularly sells 20,000 words for $2.99. I’m not paying that but hundreds of thousands of readers are. According to the New York Times, the Kindle Singles division has sold over five million units and made over ten million dollars in less than three years – and they did it profitably!” Digital Book World
B&N Has Better Earnings Despite Sales Decline – Although Barnes & Noble experienced a fall in revenue in three of their operating groups for this quarter, it posted a 13.7% increase in EBITDA, largely due to a decrease in expenses. Revenue declined most sharply in the Nook division, where sales dropped 32.2%. Barnes & Noble attributed this drop to a decrease in digital content sales.
“In the conference call, Mike Huseby, president of Barnes & Noble Inc. and CEO of Nook Media, said the company will look for further ways to “rationalize” the Nook business, but said the priority for the holiday season is to continue to sell its device inventory (including HD and HD+ devices) and to “reverse” the decline in content sales. Huseby said B&N is well aware that it needs to stay in the hardware business if it wants to grow its content business. He said after the holidays, B&N will determine its next steps in the device field, although he stressed that the company ‘is in the device business to stay.'”Publisher’s Weekly
Self-published title shortlisted for business book prize | The Bookseller – For the second year in a row, a self published book is up for the CMI Management Book of the Year. This is a real award as a £5,000 prize accompanies the title. The self published book, Management: A General Theory by John R Berry (Discoverer) shortlisted in the New Manager category, was published via lulu.com The Bookseller
Young adult readers ‘prefer printed to ebooks’ – The Guardian is reports that 62% of young adult readers enjoy print to digital. This surprises them but not me. My kid loves print books. She loves the ownership feel of them and she has no interest in reading digitally.
The two big reasons for preferring print are value for money and an emotional connection to physical books. On questions of ebook pricing, 28% think that ebooks should be half their current price, while just 8% say that ebook pricing is right. The top-rated reasons for preferring physical to digital products were: “I like to hold the product” (51%), “I am not restricted to a particular device” (20%), “I can easily share it” (10%), “I like the packaging” (9%), and “I can sell it when used” (6%). “
We All Take The Same Instagram Photos – This is pretty cool. One artist took (probably without permission) individual’s instagram photos and put them together into a stop motion film. The reason she was able to do this is because we take the same photos, all of us, no matter who we are. We are already a hive mind. Business Insider
Have you ever seen the YA “booktube” community on YouTube? Young people show off the books they’ve bought — with hardcovers being the most prized — in book haul videos and book shelf tours. Very few ebooks are ever mentioned on booktube.
The first time I stumbled onto those videos, I was surprised at the worshipping of the print book by so many young people. You would think they’d all be all about the latest gadgets and reading on their phones. Or at least I would think — and I was surprised.
I just asked my daughter, who is 17, what she prefers and would you believe she said ereader. Apparently she reads quicker with the reader*shrugs* that’s her reason :)
My 14-y-0 daughter prefers paper. She and her friends trade them back and forth. She likes a stack by her bed. We travel 1.5 hours away for a mega USB two times a year. She has three devices she can read on. If she has a favorite in paper form, she will use her money to buy an e copy. Yep, paper. And she is really into the You Tube community. She has run into E. Lizzie Books twice in the past six months and that has made her very happy.
I bought my daughter an ereader last year thinking she would embrace it as much as I did, but she surprised me. She still loves paperbacks and though it costs a small fortune to feed her reading habit, for me, it’s money well spent!!
My son has told me numerous times that it is only “older” people that prefer ebooks and he is in his early 20’s. Maybe he does know what he is talking about!
Told my daughter about this info. She agrees. Only one friend prefers e reader and she is “obsessively” neat and likes not having books piled everywhere.
But my daughter also asked if anyone has a child with a tumblr on books or YouTube channel on books that you share the info. She is constantly looking for such.
@Renda: My kids on tumbler a lot I’ll ask if she knows of anyone yours can follow. If so I’ll report back!
I wonder if people transition to e-readers as they acquire more daily baggage in their lives – literally. More things to carry, such as bags for work, or kids. And less space to store books in their homes. Add in the practicality of e-readers as you age, with their adjustable fonts, etc, and it seems like they’re idea for a slightly older demographic.
@Rosie:
while I understand your cynicism about teens ‘showing off their paper books’. Does it really matter whether they prefer print to ebooks? I mean lets not takes sides here. But, I feel that your comment was a little presumptuous. Maybe, I misinterpreted your comment?
You definitely misinterpreted my comment. I didn’t intend to criticize at all. I was only surprised by their preference. I actually really enjoy watching book haul videos and seeing young people excited about reading. No judgment or cynicism here! Only surprise.
@txvoodoo: I agree ^^
My son used to scoff at my ereaders, and ebooks are definitely not “real” to him. He does a lot of reading on his tablet now though — Calvin and Hobbes fanfic is a fav — so it perhaps a little less militant. Still, he likes print, especially hardcover.
@Rosie:
Oh, ok. Sorry, I didn’t mean to misinterpret your comment. I guess the way it was worded was the reason I thought you were criticizing.