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Monday, December 22, 2008

Books Good News for Publishing/Bad News for Retailers

Posted by on Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 10:39 AM

baby_steps_to_ebook.jpgThere had to be some good news somewhere for publishing, I guess:

Good digital book news come in multiples of four, it seems. In 2008, one major publisher announced that e-book sales had quadrupled, while another saw a 400 percent increase in e-book sales.

2008 is officially the year Ebooks became viable, in some embryonic way.

In other news, here's some good analysis of Amazon's recent purchase of online used book retailer Abebooks.

 

Comments (7) RSS

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1
I'm sort of thinking the OLPC XO laptop would make a good ebook reader. Because of the display. But I'd have to look at one first.

Plus, infantile design = hip.
Posted by elenchos on December 22, 2008 at 10:48 AM
2
Am I the only person who doesn't like reading books on a computer?
Posted by Urgutha Forka on December 22, 2008 at 10:57 AM
3
Wow, that "multiples of fours" thing is a stretch. One publisher saw sales quadruple (of course, 4 x 0 is still 0, but that's another issue altogether) and the other saw a quintuple, so they call one a quadruple and one a 400% increase? Genius!
Posted by Levislade on December 22, 2008 at 10:59 AM
4
I love, love, love my Sony Ebook.. I travel for work and now I am never without something to read... and when I see an author on the Daily Show, I can open the laptop and pick up the book right then.
Posted by Womyn2me on December 22, 2008 at 11:00 AM
5
I like to get Ebooks, print them out and bind them. Makes them feel authentic.
Posted by Joh on December 22, 2008 at 11:01 AM
6
@3: I heard that another publisher even sold 4 times as many as last year.
Posted by A on December 22, 2008 at 11:03 AM
7
I hate books about computers.
Posted by Catman on December 22, 2008 at 11:24 AM

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