After a series of sunny bank holidays, you’re probably thinking ahead to this summer’s holiday. One of the decisions to be made this year is whether to take the traditional pile of books – or lighten your luggage by taking an e-reader instead.
It seems that more and more of us are opting for the e-reader, with a fourfold growth in digital book sales reported by the Publishers Association on Tuesday this week. E-books and audiobooks worth £16m were sold in 2010.
But those publishers of the airport novel who are committed to print don’t have to worry too much just yet, since by far the biggest chunk of the market still goes to academic and professional books. That’s easy to understand since such books are often weighty items that aren’t fun to hoist around.
When it comes to leisure books, however, it seems digital has yet to make a large dent.
Mintel research released in March showed that while 18% of consumers said they read e-books, 49% would rather read a real book
Overall, electronic publications still account for a relatively small share of the market.
It’s worth bearing in mind though that their share of the market is growing, and expected to grow fast, making this an issue that booksellers need to be taking account of now in order to stay ahead in the future.
Richard Mollet, Chief Executive of the Publishers Association, said: “Parallel to this vibrant performance in digital publishing, the traditional print book market remains hugely popular for the majority of readers, and these figures point to a future of print and digital books co-existing in the marketplace.”
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