From Entrepreneur:
What was the last book or novel you read? Was it full of action and adventure? A steamy, slow-burning romance? Maybe it was the tale of a successful business owner or entrepreneur. Or was it the tell-all from a famous entertainment icon?
More importantly, What format was that story in? The traditional way of reading a story these days has drifted from the standard paperback or hardcover physical book to that of eBooks, audiobooks and even videos.
Translation?
The way we read has changed. And that change is not in just how we access the reading material. I’m going to explain 3 of the most insane trends happening in the world of publishing that will change the way you read in 2024.
Trend #1 — The explosion of eBooks
In 2020, 191 million eBooks were purchased. This shouldn’t be a surprise, considering that the world was in the midst of a global pandemic. But this statistic has actually been growing steadily since about 2019.
The popularity of Amazon’s Kindle helped to drive that, with 84% of people reading those purchased eBooks on the device. Additionally, 23% of the $26 billion publishing industry in 2020 came from eBook purchases.
While the pandemic helped boost eBooks even higher, the impact of digital reading will only grow into 2024. Why? There are several reasons:
- Convenience – readers can start reading immediately after purchase, without the need to leave the office or home.
- Accessibility – to add to convenience, accessibility is also what’s helped to make eBooks a popular choice. eBooks come in various formats – PDF, ePUB and MOBI – and many are designed to handle and use assistive technology for those with disabilities.
- Portability – the portable nature of eBooks means you can take an entire library anywhere you go. The Kindle is a popular device. However, thanks to its mobile app, anyone with a smartphone can access their library on whatever device – Mac, PC, iPhone, or Android – they prefer.
- Customization – perfect for students at all levels, eBooks can mark up passages for quick reference, notes, annotations and even website links.
Trend #2 – Can you hear me now?
The convenience and portability of eBooks make them the perfect companion while on vacation or for a relaxing evening. But what if you don’t have time to sit and relax with a good book? Our hectic daily lives, both in and outside of work, can often make enjoying leisurely activities difficult to come by. So, while you may want to read, you probably don’t have the time or energy to settle down with a good book.
Enter the audiobook.
Audiobooks might seem like a new invention thanks to the growth in technology, but they’ve had a long life, starting in 1932. Actually, the American Foundation for the Blind established a recording studio, creating recordings of books on vinyl records.
This continued into the early 1990s when the term ‘audiobook’ became a standard to explain these recordings — the year 1995 introduced the debut of the soon-to-be audiobook giant Audible. Started by Donald Katz and Tim Mott, the two took the initial idea of the audiobook and began to develop it for the growing internet.
Two years later, the company released a mobile player, allowing people to listen while on the go. It wasn’t as popular or cheap as the emerging iPod, but it was a glimpse at what could be. Two years after that, Amazon became the strategic partner for Audible and the rest, as they say, is history.
Since then, searches for ‘audible’ have risen over the last 15 years by 167%, with revenue growing 14.3% year over year. While holding most of the eBook market, Amazon also hosts about 200,000 audiobooks through Audible.
In combination, the explosion of both eBooks and audiobooks will ultimately continue – especially as more publishers develop their works to accommodate the technology.
Link to the rest at Entrepreneur
PG understands that most of the OP is old news to regular visitors to TPV, but it’s nice to know that the word may be getting around to a wider audience.
I would agree that we are past the point where we have explosive growth.
But we are talking about the growth curve not the growth.
So 1 to 2% is explosive ie it doubled but 22-24% is more growth 2% is more then 1%.
It may feel explosive if you ignored the last two decades, baen started selling webscriptions in 1999, and apparently you could buy ebooks since 1993.
Yes.
Peanut press started on the Palm and they weren’t alone.
Nuvomedia launched the Rocket Reader in 1998.
MS Reader was introduced in 2000 with ebooks at Amazon, B&N, Powells, and even some of the BPHs. Mobipocket beat them by 5 months. Structurally, LIT format was epub 1.0 with proprietary authentication.
The problem with the first generation ebooks was availability–virtually no (legal) backist– and the price of corporate tradpub titles that sold for pbook list, up to $36. And since there was no shortage of free material from Gutenberg, Black Mask, Universities the world over (and USENET) sales at the online stores disappointed. Which is why when Amazon did Kindle, they established the $9.99 price point.
Additionally, 23% of the $26 billion publishing industry in 2020 came from eBook purchases.
Hasn’t it been within a percent or two of this for several years now? Seems to me it is more of a gradual increase than an “explosion.” In fact, I thought ebook sales growth was slowing, though obviously still increasing overall.