Notes for eBooks debate at #LIKE40

Please note:

• These are just jottings which some people expressed an interest in looking at and I wanted to publish details and acknowledgements of the work of others which I used on the evening.

Popularity

• 21% of Americans read an ebook in 2011-2• Sales of e-books were up 188% on same

period in 2011, non-fiction up 128%• Ditigal sales of general consumer titles up

from £30 mil to £84 Mil over 2011/12 period• Print dipped by less than .5%• Number sold down by 3.8%• Publisher Association Figures

Popularity

• Growth in e-book consumption is being driven by older readers, particularly those aged 45-54. Just over a quarter of this age group bought an e-book in the six months to March 2012, up from 17% in November 2011. Men are more likely than women to buy e-books, but women buy more and also download more free titles.

• Children aged 10 and under are reading e-books on laptops rather than dedicated e-readers, according to the study. However from the age of 11, the Kindle becomes their most widely used device.

In libraries• eBook borrowers read an average of 29 books,

compared to 23 books for readers who do not borrow ebooks from a library

• 42% of ebook borrowers get recommendations from librarians.

• The total number of e-books borrowed from UK public libraries through the leading Overdrive e-lending platform has jumped up from 169,071 in 2010 to 576,125 to November this year, although this is still tiny compared to 300.2 million actual books borrowed in 2010/11.

Libraries turn readers into buyers• 41% of those who borrow ebooks from libraries

purchased their most recent ebook• 56% of ebook readers with library cards

preferred to buy ebooks. 46% of library cards holds said they preferred to buy print books.

• 35% of respondents have purchased a book (print or e) after borrowing that title.

• 44% of Library users digital book purchases have increased in the last 6 months.

• 57% said the public library is their primary source of book discovery.

Ebooks are broken

• Amazon takes approx 70% of the ebook market in the US, so there is a lack of purchasing alternatives

• There are too many proprietary formats.• DRM frustrates paying customers and does

nothing to thwart pirates. But they would not buy the product anyway, so they’re not lost customers. Why not focus on maximizing revenue from customers? Ditch DRM. This will accelerate sales.

Broken

• We don’t own our ebooks– Leased, not owned. Cannot lend, give away

• Barnes & Noble decides that purchased ebooks are only yours until your credit card expires– Publishers encourage piracy– DRM frustrates paying customers and does nothing to

thwart pirates. But they would not buy the product anyway, so they’re not lost customers. Why not focus on maximizing revenue from customers? Ditch DRM. This will accelerate sales.

Gaiman• Neil Gaiman:• "Places where I was being pirated -- particularly Russia

(where people were translating my stuff into Russian and spreading it out into the world) I was selling more and more books. People were discovering me through being pirated. And then they were going out and buying the real books, and when a new book would come out in Russia it would sell more and more copies."

• He then mentions that after a lot of persuading, he got his publisher to release a free digital copy of American Gods, and sales went up by 300%, even though it had already been selling quite well before that.

Problem for libraries• Publishers are preventing libraries from buying and loaning ebooks,

or charging them up to 300% the cost of a print book. • 50 shades of grey $9.99 for electronic version, Libs $47.85,

trilogy is $29.99 for consumers, but $89.97 for libraries.• Hachette, Tom Wolfe’s publisher doubled the price on its

books, Random House tripled. • Books may only be made available 6 months after their

release date (Penguin trial system in US) and only for a year.• Only loaned 26 times• Of the USA Today best seller list none of the top five, and only 6 out

of 25 are available to libraries, according to Douglas County Library.

• “When it’s as easy to buy a book as to click a button and borrow one, a lot more people are going to take the borrowing option. That has serious implications for authors and their royalties, booksellers and publishers.”

• Borrowing not the same as purchase. Small rural communities, without access to bookshops cannot get to one to buy the book. So little impact there. Book borrowing is a good way to try out an author or genre.

• As for ‘click a button’...

Work with libraries

• Libraries let people read your books.• We reduce instances of piracy• Libraries introduce people to your books• We celebrate books and authors everyday, all

year long. • Archives• Publicity• We WANT to buy your books. • Library users are your best customers.

Links

• Pew Report:– http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/06/22/libraries-patrons-and-e-books/

• Overdrive survey link:– http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/survey-library-borrowers-buy-books-too/?utm_medium=referral

&utm_source=pulsenews

• Gaiman quote: – http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110211/00384413053/how-neil-gaiman-went-fearing-piracy-

to-believing-its-incredibly-good-thing.shtml

• Work with libraries points from Bobby Newman – http://librarianbyday.net/2011/11/23/9-reasons-publishers-should-stop-acting-like-libraries-are-the-

enemy-and-start-thanking-them/

• Remote access to ebooks, inspiration from:– Ian Clark http://infoism.co.uk/