A Sign of the Times:
A few facts:
Last week on the USA Today best seller list, of the top 6 books, the ebook version outsold the print version. On the same list, 19 of the bestsellers had ebook sales outperform against print sales. After the big Christmas morning bonanza of eReaders, “165,000 e-book versions of the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson” sold compared to “155,000 print copies” according to Paul Bogaards of Knopf.
A spokesperson from Bowker, a company which analyzes the book industry sales, believes eBook sales may not sustain their current inflated sales state, but Kelly Gallagher does predict sales of eBooks will likely double (up from the 9% of trade sales in 2010) during 2011.
Resisting Change
For the longest time, I was resistant to the eReading Revolution. I’m a bookstore lover. With a capital L. My husband and I go on dates to Barnes & Noble. I LOVE (see, all caps) the SMELL, FEEL, and LOOK of books. WE have wall to ceiling books shelves in our ‘great room’. A new, lusted after book? To hold it in my hands is better than… well, you get the idea.
So when eBooks first became prevalent, I chalked it up to the (at the time) new erotica genre, never guessing the concept of digital books would go mainstream… and so quickly.
When the Kindle first came out (now predicted to sell 10 million+ this year), I was extremely skeptical that I’d ever get on board with the “newfangled” technology. And I say “newfangled” being a bona fide techy girl. I thoroughly enjoy building websites, blogging (I co-founded The Naked Hero, founded Books on the House and Books on the House for Kids/Teens, and have my own site), and pretty much living on my computer, so my reluctance to join the eBook/eReading Revolution was based solely on my love of physical books. I just didn’t believe the digital book would take hold across genres.
But I also give workshops to writing organizations about the publishing industry, and I teach at SMU (CAPE) in the novel writing track. My research for my teaching/lecture gigs eventually showed, also unequivocally, that eBooks were here to stay. A year and a half ago, when I saw that eBook sales were growing (up 120% in 2009) and print book sales were declining, I saw the writing on the wall.
When key industry players began going the indie publishing route, the writing on the wall became boldfaced.
Now the writing’s in Sharpie. It’s not going anywhere, and neither are eBooks.
The Power of Three
It may have taken me longer than, say, DD Scott (fellow WG2E guru), to get on-board with whole idea of ePublishing, but the Power of Three holds in real life just as much as it holds in fiction. It took three separate research sessions before I was ready to embrace the fact that eBooks are here to stay. I’ve accepted it, nee, embraced it, and I’m here to stay.
It looks like others are here to stay, as well. These are just a few of the many, many authors who are making waves (and $$) with their eBooks:
L.J. Sellers, author of the Detective Jackson mysteries (yes, rumors are true, LJ will be here to share her story with us)
Tina Folsom (Tina will be here, too!)
So, who is reading eBooks?
Women, for starters. Women romance readers, to be exact. Recent intel from Nielsen BookScan says that romance books have taken the lead in sales. “…digital sales of the genre have overtaken print copies for the first time – which [eReading fans] can read without anyone else knowing.”
This statistic supports the idea that romance books are booming in the age of digital reading: 2% of romance in print in 2009 sold, as compared to 14% in eBooks. That’s a big difference.
Why is this? This article by Daily Mail believes the increase in the sale of romance books–what they call bodice rippers– is because it allows readers to have anonymity with what they’re reading. Those people who don’t want to advertise that they’re reading romances (or erotica…or whatever) can hide their reading preferences thanks to eReaders. I think there is a good side and a bad side to that idea. It’s great–if you don’t want people seeing what you’re reading. Not great–because with the idea that people are embarrassed by certain types of books comes the idea that there is something bad or wrong with reading those books. As an author, I don’t like that idea, although I understand it. Romance, particularly erotica, book covers definitely convey S.E.X. Seems understandable, then, that readers don’t want to advertise their topic, even though statistics say that romance readers (between the ages of 31-49) devour books at a rate of 3+ a month.
The NY Times wrote this article on Lusty Tales and Hot Sales which supports the Daily Mail’s article about the increase in romance reading. It seems the desire to keep one’s reading preferences a secret is growing.
I don’t care what people read, and, in fact, when I see a book someone’s reading and it looks interesting, then I see it somewhere, I’m that much more likely to pick it up. So one thing I’m curious about is what eBooks will do to the word of mouth element of book selling? I don’t have stats on that, but I’m curious about these things:
How you current eBook readers share the news of great books you’ve read on your eReader. Do you think there is a downside to the anonymity of books?
Are there books you read that you’d rather keep a secret from passerby? Is it because of …*shhhh*… sex?
And are you surprised by the increase in romance book sales?
Have you downloaded any books to avoid buying them in public?
I have thought about that anonymity myself with my kindle. I remember back in the heady Harry Potter days, how fun it was to suddenly see someone holding an HP book and you knew immediately what they were reading and that you could go up to them and have a great conversation, if you dared interrupt them. I think it’s sad that we won’t probably ever have that again, but I do love my kindle. Of course, I like it when my family asks me what I am reading and I can say I’m reading my research book when in reality I’m taking a little break with a smutty romance.
Lol, Suzanne! We all need breaks every now and then. What a great anecdote about Harry Potter. Losing that *sight* and possibly word of mouth as a result is a definite downside.
Great great post, Misa!
And yes, I do see word-of-mouth changing in our Ebook world…but I think it’s actually going to be much much easier to do and thus more important than ever.
How and Why?
Social media!!!
Just like we’re blogging about this today…you can find blogs dedicated to genres and just great reads period all over the internet!!! And I luv that!!! Just yesterday I mentioned a really fun Cozy Mystery blog centered on Cozies with food elements…how fun is that?! http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/ And I bought two Ebooks they mentioned after reading the site. Another example, I read your fabulous Naked Hero post yesterday http://thenakedhero.com and bought two Ebooks from an author you mentioned Jennie Bentley http://www.jenniebentley.com/ . And until yesterday, I’d never heard of many of these authors or their fabulous books!!!
Now that’s powerful word-of-mouth!!!
Oh, and then I Facebooked and Tweeted about those new authors and sites. And today, right now, I’m mentioning them again right here at The WG2E!!!
Because of the virtual way of the world now, viral marketing (an example of which is word-of-mouth) will be faster and more far-reaching than ever.
And here’s another thing, also the fact that Ebook Stores are virtual online stores, and our websites are international too, I’m building huge fan bases around the world! I’m up to an average of around 32 countries a month on my website alone!!! And none of those people would have ever found me on the train, or in a plane, or in a coffee shop with my fabulous print book covers.
Likewise, being about town, on a daily basis, I’d never directly impact (or indirectly for that matter) say 10,000 plus people, but I sure do online. On a daily basis, I’ve got 656 “followers” on Twitter and around 400 “friends” on Facebook plus my 1500 plus hits/day on my website and who knows how many on all our blogs/grogs. And all those numbers on growing at huge, huge rates every day.
Hell, if I go out for coffee, I see the same people at the same tables nine days outta ten! LOL!!!
The Best of The WG2E Virtual Word-of-Mouth Wishes — D. D. Scott
Okay, Chica, you’re WAY more awake than I am. All GREAT points. Social media IS the new word of mouth, and the internet itself has definitely changed the way we do things, interact, are exposed to content and information. (An example to the negative to that is the shooting in Arizona and the hatred speech that ratchets up the violence, played over and over and over again online–see this post on The Stiletto Gang about it).
I do think the pros outweigh the cons, for all the reasons you state: international audience, social networking, ease of exposure, ‘liking’ and ‘tweeting’ functions on blogs (like this one, so if you like our posts, like and tweet them!
It truly is a brave new world on so many levels.
I remember, T! You should link to it here. Love my NOOK, although it’s taking me WAY too long to get through the book I’m reading for book club.
As a huge fan of historical romance, I find now with my Kindle that I’m buying “steamier” reads that I never would’ve dared pick up in a bookstore. So yes, I like the anonymity.
This cracked me up on Emma Wildes’ website…Top Ten Reasons E-Books Rock…
http://www.emmawildes.com/stayconnected.shtml
Oh, great find, Melissa!
Bethany Michaels is a hoot! She was in my Indiana RWA Chapter before moving to my beloved Nashville TN! In fact, she was one of the first reasons I started looking at Epublishing. She had “gone E” long before it was the hot new, business smart thing to do!!!
Her book NASHVILLE HEAT is really good! And was one of the first “steamier” books I read.
The Best of The WG2E Wishes — D. D. Scott
If I see someone with an e-reader I ask how they like it and make comparisons to mine and then ask what they are reading.
I discover a lot of my new-to-me authors on Facebook and the blogs I read and most are e-book readers.
You are a diversified e-reader, too, Dru. You really don’t have a preference between the two devices you have?
Not yet. I like aspect of both, but the majority of my books are on the nook since I had that one first. So far, most of the books I bought on the kindle were not available on the nook.
But I am reading other genres that I normally would not read if I went to a bookstore.
Me too, Dru, regarding reading genres I never thought I would now that I’m reading the Ereader Way.
The lower price point makes those genres more worth trying to me.
The Best of The WG2E Wishes — D. D. Scott
Misa,
Great research and terrific article.
I’m still holding out on getting an e-reader — until I’m 99.9% certain which format will prevail and which provides the widest access. [I am NOT going to own a Kindle AND a Nook AND a Whatever.]
But as a public librarian for nearly 30 years, I was well aware of who the readers are. And I had a pretty good feel for which books [and, later, other media] were moving.
So when I began writing novel manuscripts 4.5 years ago — which, was, by the way, a huge surprise to me … since I’d always been a poetry guy — I decided I wanted to write fiction for those same wonderful folks who’d been the mainstay customers [patrons] of our public libraries. Yep. Those of the fair gender.
After I got three ms. out of the way (which defy categorization), I finally zeroed in on what I truly enjoy writing — and what I think is still a prominent slice of the market. Yep. Screwball romantic comedy.
That’s my long way around to this: e-publishing is here and it’s here to stay. I’m on-board with that. I just hope they keep print monographs for the rest of my lifetime … because I’m just as addicted as you are, Misa.
What a great journey, Jeff!
Great post, Misa!
I, too, have an undying love for a printed book. I received a nook last year and have really enjoyed reading on it, especially when working out because it’s easier to prop it on an exersise machine and press a button to turn pages.
My husband wanted to read a book on the nook, so I loaned it to him and took the opportunity to pick up print books again. I felt like I’d returned home! Now I try to read some print books and books on the nook. I usually like to do things one way or the other (that’s an entirely separate issue!!) so I have to make myself purchase e-books I can’t wait to read so I will pick up the nook!
I lived in Washington, D.C. the last couple of years and really loved to see what people were reading when I took the Metro. Call me nosy, but being a writer, it’s always interesting to do a little impromptu market research! As time went on (from 2008 to 2010), I saw less people reading print books and more with e-readers–probably indulging in some erotica after a long day at work!
Tracy
Tracy, I’m with you in that I’ll never give up print books. For one, I have about a zillion of them that have yet to be read. Second, I do love them.
I have been going back and forth, myself, also. I don’t have a place to do ‘market research’ like you did in DC, but what a great observation!
I’m with you Misa, I love my books. A couple of years ago, my husband built me two huge ceiling to floor book shelves for my den. When I walk in that room I can smell the books, and the wood, and it takes me right back to when I was child in my great-grandfather’s den and books. Among the WG2E team, I was the last to get my e-reader, and now wonder, (besides cost) what took me so long. I love, love , love it!! But I’ll always love my books too. Oh, and I really don’t care what anyone thinks of what I’m reading, as long as I enjoy it.
” I really don’t care what anyone thinks of what I’m reading, as long as I enjoy it.”
I’m with you, Lee!
I have never understood the idea of hiding what I am reading. If that were true it wouldn’t be my romance novels, but my true crime books I would hide. Much more scary to see a woman reading about women who killed their husbands than a novel about true love, isn’t it???
I post all the books I read – paper and e- on Goodreads and Shelfari. There is still excellent word of mouth about books, in any format.
Great point, Jill! Goodreads is an excellent word of mouth venue. I wish I could remember to go there!
I’m beginning to really use Goodreads too…but haven’t tried Shelfari yet.
What I luuuvvv is when testosterone heavy men make fun of me reading and writing “those trashy books”…all the while grinning in that really ewwwww disgusting way.
I always tell ‘em “you should read ‘em too…you might learn something your wife (or girlfriend) would appreciate”.
And that, my friends, always shuts ‘em up!!!
The Best of The WG2E Wishes — D. D. Scott
I still buy more printed books than e-books.
I used to but not anymore!!!
I got to the point where I had to buy my sixth huge bookcase or start going E.
And once I started reading with my Kindle, I can honestly say, I enjoy the experience sooo much that I’m sticking with it!!! I also read a ton faster with the Kindle and can bounce back and forth between books without carrying five or so around with me at once ’til I figure out what I’m in the mood to read.
Also, I’m discovering that I’m trying more and more new authors I’ve never heard of because of things like Kindle Nation Daily pushes…and…once I read about an author on a blog or push, I can immediately go to my Kindle and press the one-click buy button, and I got ‘em!!!
The Best of The WG2E Wishes — D. D. Scott
D.D., I love the ease of seeing a name of an author and “press” I have their book. It is too easy to forget an author I wanted to try by the time I get to the bookstore.
But so easy to spend WAY too much money!!