1%-2% paperback. I'm indie publishing though. I think it's much different for traditional. US is like 70-75% of all sales ebook and hardcopy. Then UK, then Australia, then Canada and Germany are about even. The only other country that I've sold paperbacks other than US is UK and I think that has to deal with where books are printed with Amazon. They've recently opened printing in Australia so it may change.
About 4-5% of my sales is in paperback. Probably the best for paperback is my short story collection, which really is not an overall good seller. My understanding is that most short story collections are not big sellers, compared to novels by the same author. Print sales are highest for me after a release (well, just like with ebook sales) but the percentage of print at the time is probably more like 15%. Back when my first novel was published, the print sales were probably 30%. Print sales do trend upward after I do an event, like at a con or other venue where I sell books, but not by a lot. And I have not done signing events since the pandemic. Things have changed over the years (2009 was the year of my first book's release). What has really surged in the last two years for me is audiobook sales.
Thanks for you replies. Interesting, as outside of the US it seems people prefer paperback. Practically all my sales of ebooks is the US market.
Back when I was traditionally published and had both paperbacks and ebooks, about 10% of my sales were paperback and the rest were ebook. Now that I'm self-publishing I just do ebooks since they've historically been the lion's share of my sales. I honestly purchase ebooks almost exclusively myself. Once in a while I will order a hard copy of a cookbook or other graphic/photo intensive book, but for just reading I love ebooks because they're cheap, take up zero physical space and are always with me wherever I feel like reading.
I'll admit that I'm a traditional paper book person. That said, I'm (slowly) coming around to ebooks. Why? Less space/clutter and able to have more books. The down side is being middle aged, you take a little while in changing your whole approach . . . I'm getting there thou
You can do it. I was a die-hard physical book guy forever. Now, I wouldn't touch one. I have no room for them, all of my bookshelves are overstuffed as it is and I can carry around my entire selection on my tablet easily. I don't think I'd ever go back.
