Big, bigger, but not yet biggest: According to the Association of American Publishers's StatShot study released Thursday, ebooks made up nearly a quarter (22.55%, to be precise) of U.S. trade publishers' book sales last year. That's up from 17% in 2011 and just 3% in 2009.
The financial outlook for books is good. Total industry revenues increased 6.2% to $7.1 billion, of which $1.54 billion came from ebooks. Net revenue from adult fiction/non-fiction and children's/young adult books rose as well — though revenue in the third category, religious presses, did not.
It wasn't just ebooks that sold well. Downloadable audiobooks and paperbacks also saw year-over-year increases, as did hardcover copies of books in the children's/young adult category.
Interestingly, ebook revenues appear to be outpacing user adoption of the format, albeit only slightly. According to a study published by Pew last week,
21% of American adults have read an ebook in the past year.
The average reader of e-books says she has read 24 books (the mean number) in the past 12 months, compared with an average of 15 books by a non-e-book consumer.
30% of those who read e-content say they now spend more time reading, and owners of tablets and e-book readers particularly stand out as reading more now.
By Lauren Indvik10
Image courtesy Flickr, TheCreativePenn
