Digital Publishing
2 mins read

The future of books, print vs digital

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The publishing business has changed a lot since the invention of ereaders and ebooks, though as the saying goes the more things change the more they stay the same. Ebook sales were expected to outpace traditional books sales by 2015, but that just never happened. People still like print books. In fact, print book sales grew 2% in 2015 while ebook sales dropped off by 10% in the same time frame.

Print publishing is being kept afloat by some pretty significant milestones. For starters, Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman sold 761,000 print copies in its first 6 days on the shelf. Highly anticipated books can still bring out record crowds to the bookstore. The rising popularity of adult coloring books is also helping – half of the top ten best-sellers in December 2015 were adult coloring books. Print publishing has a lot going for it still – books never run out of batteries, they aren’t likely to get stolen from your beach bag while you’re swimming in the ocean, you can read them during takeoff and landing in a plane, and you can pass them along to your friends after you are done reading.

Ebooks have a lot going for them, too. Nearly half of titles available in ebook format are independent titles, giving readers a wider range of options than they would get in a bookstore. You can download an ebook anywhere any time without waiting on the mail or going to a bookstore. You can also get reading material in your native language no matter where you are in the world. You can carry dozens of titles in one ereader instead of lugging around multiple books. It’s easy to see why they are so popular in the marketplace!

The future of the publishing industry is looking pretty solid whether you are on the side of print or electronic media. Click through the link here to learn more about the future of publishing.