Tech Tip: E-Books vs. Books – The Battle Rages

March 26, 2012 by Kristin Broughton

Book news is filled with statistics these days, and most of the numbers offer evidence of upheaval in the publishing industry.

Recent reports, for instance, show that e-book sales jumped last year by an estimated 117%, while print sales continued their downward spiral, falling the by almost 36%. Industry analysts predict e-reader sales to nearly triple by 2016.

It’s a narrative that’s been repeated in headlines. E-book sales are up. Print sales are down. Reading, as we know it, is changing.

But recent data show that the headlines aren’t telling the whole story. Most technology-loving bookworms aren’t abandoning bricks-and-mortor bookstores. In fact, the numbers show that they’re splitting their purchases between electronic and print copies.

Data from Verso Advertising, for instance, highlights how avid readers are adapting to new e-reading technology. Nearly 30% of all e-book and tablet users expect to purchase 10 or more e-books in the coming year.

But, the data also shows that those aren’t the only purchases that those book lovers are making. Nearly 43% of avid readers surveyed said that they plan to buy 10 or more hard-copy books this year, in addition to their e-book downloads.

Consumers clearly have more complicated preferences for book shopping than eye-catching business headlines news suggest. Even as readers adapt to digital literature, they’re not abandoning their hardcovers and paperbacks.

In fact, they’re actually purchasing more print copies of the certain genres, such as children’s books and cookbooks. There are some books that consumers just prefer to read the old-fashioned way.

So look twice at the data. It’s a mixed bag. Print sales may be declining, but hard-copy books aren’t going away anytime soon.