Hello mediaresearch,
The only information I found is partial and rather out of date, so I
reproduce it as a comment rather than as an answer.
“The United States is the world’s largest market for books, with
retail book sales accounting for $20.76 billion in 1997. With over
2,500 publishers in the US, the book publishing industry is one of the
oldest and most fragmented industries.”
“Retail bookstores, independents and general retailers accounted for
between
35-40 percent of industry revenues”
“Moreover, as hardcover trade books have become relatively expensive,
many readers now borrow them from libraries rather than purchase them
outright. Industry experts observed that about 95 percent of general
titles published in any year sold less than 20,000 copies; of that
amount, about 55 percent were purchased by libraries. Libraries also
frequently repurchase titles to replace worn-out and stolen books. By
doing so, they keep the “backlist” sales healthy”
“The industry is witnessing a significant drop in the mail order
book business. This drop in sales was attributed to the growth of
large discount-sale retailers.
Publishers’ book club sales on the other hand have risen steadily,
gaining 9 percent in 1994 and in
early 1995.”
“Although the best-selling books get the bulk of the attention and
marketing dollars, “backlist” books are considered the “bread and
butter” of the industry. A backlist is the publishing company’s
catalog of books that have already appeared in print. Estimates
indicated that as much as 25 to 30 percent of a publisher’s revenues
come from this source…. Since these books require no editing and
little promotion, they are generally profitable. Moreover, print runs
are easier to predict, resulting in fewer returns to publishers.”
AMAZON.COM : Expanding Beyond Books
http://us.badm.washington.edu/kotha/internet/handouts/Amazon_rev.pdf
October 1998 |
