I love books, real books, items where you physically engage with them, turn the pages, scribble in the margins, pass them onto friends with a handshake and a ‘you will enjoy this‘.
Behind me (chronologically) are those who have grown up with e-books, blogs, podcasts, and all the other digital distractors, who have missed the joy I have always had in a bookstore. Instead they browse the Amazon catalogue and recommendations, and look up ratings by people they do not know on sites that have no interest in being transparent.
Very efficient, but to an old fart, not always a substitute.
Despite the gloomy outlook, I still think that the few bookstores still around will survive, having identified a clientele who like me values a real book. Stores like Berkelouw books in Sydney with 10 stores, and 200 years plus in the business, where a book is more than an item in a catalogue, where the staff live and breathe books, and communicate the passion.
Perhaps not, the numbers seem to be against them, although Amazon opening bricks and mortar bookstores should tell you something. There are also a few specialised book publishers around, those with a deep knowledge of their topic domain, that seem to be hanging in there.
Authorearnings.com has a database that records all book sales, a treasure trove of information if you are a book tragic. Here are some highlights from the January 2018 report, and some thoughts.
- Amazon sells half the ‘books’ in the US. That number is made up of e-books 55%, print 39% and fast growing audio books making the balance.
- The dollar shares are very different, print sales make up 63% of the value, unsurprising when you consider the relative value of a $3 e-book and a $100 textbook, which are still largely print. How long this print bias in textbooks will last is anyone’s guess, but mine is not too long.
- The sales split in categories of books, unsurprisingly, is very different. Digital has consumed fiction, with 90% of romance purchases are e-books, while poetry and drama are still overwhelmingly print, albeit off a way smaller base.
Books are the original long tail business, millions are ‘published’ and most sell only a few copies to their friends, colleagues, and mum. However, some are still of great value to a few, and we would be diminished by their absence. Digital has made the long tail accessible to us all, suddenly those lost gems are easy to find, even if you do have to read them on a ‘device’
The strategic question is will there still be a need for publishers in a decade?
I think the answer is ‘Yes’ but not like they are currently and have been in the past. They will become more like collaborators, and business partners, than just another cog in the supply chain as they have been. Publishers play an important role in the curation and editing of books. Authors want to write, and often do not want to be bothered by the commercial end of the business, and in any event often have little marketing and commercial skills, so need a third party to help.
Editing is also a must, if a book is to be more than a jumble of words. Steven Pressfield in his great ‘Writing Wednesdays‘ blog makes it clear that he could not do what he does without his editor Shawn Coyne. If a writer of the skill and experience of Pressfield needs help, the rest of us are in real trouble without it.
Photo credit. Geoff Roberts. Goulds Books Newtown Sydney.
PS. After posting, a friend referred me to this video of the 6 most beautiful bookstores in the world. Suck it up Amazon!
