Bookstores have been struggling for a long time though, Dave. I'd blame
silly discounting and a saturated market and too many publishers all chasing
the same titles and a global financial crisis before I'd look to e-books.
Latest reliable figures I saw had e-books accounting for 4% of current book
sales. And if e-books didn't exist, who's to say that those 4% of purchasers
would buy hard copies of these titles anyway (and indeed would print
versions of these titles even be available)? The way I see it, it's not
necessarily a case of one or the other. E-books create an additional revenue
stream for authors, they keep books in print, and the sort of people who buy
new hardcovers will still buy new hardcovers. And those who buy mass market
paperbacks will still do so too, because the electronic versions are more
expensive.
Also, publishers do a lot more than just distribute than print. If that's
all they do, there'd be nothing to stop Stephen and Stephanie
self-publishing in print format right now. Doubt they'd have any problems
whatsoever getting distribution and a printer. And one other thing: Amazon
take 65% of the retail price of the book if you're independently publishing
for the Kindle. That's nowhere near as much as a publisher, but it's a
pretty big chunk nonetheless.
Al
----- Original Message -----
From: "davezeltserman" <Dave.Zeltserman@gmail.com>
> There is a tipping point where if enough book buyers switch to e-book
> readers, book stores, where many are struggling now, will go out of
> business, as will many publishers, and those of us who don't want e-book
> readers will have no choice. I have no idea what that tipping point is.
> 10%? 20%? The ironic thing about this is in an e-book only world, the
> mega-bestsellers like Stephen King and Stephanie Myer, will most certainly
> bypass publishers and put their books on the e-books themselves, since
> what would publishers have to offer if distribution and printing are no
> longer issues?. So this push by publishers is a push to put themselves out
> of business.
>
> --Dave
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