E-Book Sales Down Nearly 20%

That infuriates me to no end. I primarily buy ebooks now for a couple of reasons. As someone mentioned above, I've got a very small apartment by most standards, and my bookshelf space is practically non-existent (12 feet in width, across six shelves that are deep enough to hold two rows of standard paperbacks).

The thing that pisses me off as a reader though, and that I'll do my best to remedy if I ever become a selling writer, is the general inability to borrow or lend an e-book. I know the publishers are pissed every time someone reads something they haven't been paid for, but I really think they're killing their market growth with DRM. When I find an author I like, I evangelize them out to friends who I think will enjoy their work. I'm quite happy to loan my dead-tree books out, and I've had several of them not come back, but in turn, there are books in my bookshelf that I don't remember who I borrowed them from. This simply isn't possible with most ebooks, and even when it technically is, trying to figure out how to loan something from my Android Kindle app to my buddy's Kobo or Nook is just a pain in the ass.

 

Yes, that's a total annoyance. And what's worse, you can't 'send' an ebook to somebody as a gift, even if you want to pay for it again. At least not on Amazon. You can only send them a gift card, and hope they use it to buy the book you suggest. Or send them the paper book.

I have at least two friends who, because of physical handicaps, rely on Kindle for their reading. I would love to send them a book from time to time, but can't do.

Yeah, no transfer of technology is ever simple. Just try sending money through the post (as a gift or payment for some small thing) if you don't have a chequing account. Or if the recipient hasn't got access to a bank. You need to get hold of their banking details to transfer money (for a fee.) Or just send cash and hope for the best.

I do wish people would spend more time troubleshooting for consequences like this, when introducing a new technology. My philosophy is dual.
1) Just because you can doesn't mean you should
2) The second mouse gets the cheese

 

I've been gifted a particular eBook on Amazon. It was like receiving a Kindle voucher, except it was a link to a free download of the book.

Mind you, this was direct from the author, so it might be something that authors/publishers can do, but not general customers...?

ETA: Nope, looks like anybody can do it:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201964280&tag=writingfor07a-20

 

Excellent. I've bookmarked that page. I either missed it before (a year or so ago, when I last checked) or it's a new feature. Super. Gift-giving problem solved!

 

Yup, I was going to say that at least Amazon US allows it, but you need an account name and an email address (connected to that account) to do so. My aunt and I buy each other books that way. But passing a book I enjoyed on to my coworker? Nope, no can do.

 

Aha, this data comes from AuthorEarnings, which puts a different spin on things. I'm not a statistician but I know people who are have torn apart their data before. AE has an agenda and a bias towards self-publishing (which, of course, it calls indie publishing). The tide has certainly not shifted from what I see, and it is certainly not accepted as a *reliable* data source!

I'll reserve judgement until this has been objectively analysed, but I wouldn't let any data from AE discourage me or affect my career decisions as a writer...

 

Especially this. Writing, reading, marketing and publishing are in a state of flux at the moment, so it's impossible to say what will be best in the near future. However, if you want to write, write. Don't let anything stop you. Just don't give up the day job yet.

 

That could certainly be an interesting thing, but it wouldn't replace books for me, any more than movies replace books or cupcakes replace brownies or cats replace dogs. The unique value of books would remain.

 

I like your perspective. The issue boils down (for me, anyway) to, when one is 'unlearn-ed' in an area he tends to defer to others who (seemingly) know more about that topic. I've followed Thad for a while, but have not myself delved into the sausage-making to the level where I can really discern any nuances, or make my own judgement beyond what he tells me something means.

I like what you said. And if what you say is true then I'm disappointed that biased data has been presented.

<wringsHandsinFrustration>

 

Oh yes, I think it's human nature to defer to someone who seems authoritative on a subject. And AE does a good job of presenting itself as an unbiased and reliable data source!

From what I understand there are issues with the data collection itself (unsurprising, considering its core subject of 'author earnings' is self-reported by people with an invested interest in making themselves look more successful than they are), the way it's presented and, most of all, the conclusions AE claims the data supports. What a shock that yet another AE data set shows that "indie" publishing is the way to go.

If you have a head for numbers I would do some Googling and read more - it's a while since I read about AE and I can't remember most of the details. I think there are some long-running threads on AbsoluteWrite that debunk it pretty thoroughly.

 

I'm really glad you shared this. And I will.

It's hard to know what to believe. Which is why I have just about decided to go focus on the content, day by day. :/