Contrary to popular belief, the traditional printed book is not dead, and despite the belief that the rising popularity of e-books have all but murdered their old-school counterparts, recent published reports suggest that both paper and technology are thriving in their own niches.
According to BBC News, while it once looked like the reduced prices of e-books and the rise of devices like the Kindle and Nook would send traditional books to the endangered species list, printed manuscripts continue to survive.
For instance, the British media outlet added that in the UK about $614 million (£393 million) was spent on e-books last year, while more than $2.6 billion (£1.7 billion) was spent on traditional books. However, some genres have fared better than others, as adult fiction and romance novels are now primarily sold as e-books, while cookbooks and religious tests perform better in print.
BBC News also reported that Kindle sales peaked at 13.44 million in 2011 before falling to 9.7 million the following year, starting a downward trend. The Nook, meanwhile, has been losing an estimated $70 million per year while Barnes & Noble attempts to sell off its e-reader division.
How some firms are combining tradition and technology
Some companies are attempting to blur the gap between the two types of books, BBC News explained. Last year, The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name, (a publishing experiment centered around a printed book which could be digitally personalized to include the name of the person reading it), became the best-selling children’s picture book in both the UK and Australia.
SeeBook, a Spanish company, sells gift cards that can be bought in bookstores or online, and gives readers a QR code that, when scanned, allows them to download the book to their tablet or smartphone. Likewise, London-based start-up Bookindy is using a Chrome browser plug-in that tracks Amazon searches and compares prices with those of local booksellers.
“Digital technology and the rise in the digital reading culture has allowed authors and publishers many more new creative opportunities to develop ‘the book’ further and delight readers,” former Penguin Books Digital head Anna Rafferty said. “It also allows authors to publish directly, to connect intimately with their readers and, crucially, to create new ways of telling their stories.”
“[So] while there can be no denying that printed book sales have taken a massive hit with the rise of digital, there is some evidence that the rate of decline is slowing and that the excitement over e-readers is subsiding,” BBC News concluded in their report. “The book isn’t dead; technology is simply helping it evolve beyond its physical confines.”
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