What's happening to Traditional Paper Books?
Paper Reading is not dead. At least not YET! But paper is definitely on it's way to becoming the minority niche market instead of the primary source.
I still deliver paperback editions to my mom on a regular basis. At 89, she loves to read a great story but she has no interest in fussing with electronic gadgets.
She's not alone; we have a few members with relatives who feel the same way, and more members who use soft cover editions as their favorite way to 'escape' from work life in front of a screen.
But most of us, according to our emailbox here at LLP, are quickly making the transition to paperless -- almost 2-to-1 with Digital Audio in high 2nd place on the list after Digital eBooks.
Pure storage capacity is a popular reason for change -- saving 250+ books in a reading device that needs less shelf space (or purse space) than a paperback is a big plus.
Even more popular is the new variety of reading and listening sources -- and the convenience of instant access!
Our members love to shop online for eBooks and Digital Audio, and download purchases immediately. No waiting for the mail, no driving to the store. Just choose what you want to read and within minutes you have it.
Stiff competition from the new media types against traditional paper publishing is beginning to show.
Last week we received a memo from one of our eBook vendors that from this point forward they would not be allowed to discount prices or offer sales of eMedia from certain publishers.
Big Publishers will set price points as they see fit. Uh-huh.
We can understand their need to protect hardback sales -- it costs a lot to produce those hardbacks, and warehouse them, and ship them across the country, and to keep brick and morter stores open. If too many readers opt for the 'low production cost' version, they won't be paying big bucks for the hard copy versions.
There's nothing we can do about their 'price fixing' except refuse to buy the digital versions until the price comes down. Of course you can count on Big Publisher to use the drop in digital sales as evidence that eBooks aren't as popular as everyone thought.
That's a real shame -- everyone loses: most of all the reader, and the author who could have had a broader audience of loyal followers.
Fortunately there is an increasing number of 'small' publishers who produce digital books as their mainstay and don't need to support the dying economy of traditional bulk paper.
It will be interesting to watch them grow their catalogs and expand their markets, and to support them for offering us a good read in the format we prefer.
