A variety of forces are driving change in the bookselling industry.
First, people are reading fewer books as there are more entertainment
options available. Second, the used book market has grown
considerably because of the Internet. Third, the volume of returns is
greatly increasing because of shorter shelf lives for bestsellers,
larger bookstores, and reader fragmentation. Two other interesting
trends which are not yet significant but which may ultimately
transform the bookselling industry are self-publishing and digital
books.
Americans are reading less, spending 106 hours per person per year
reading books in 2003 compared to 120 hours per person per year
reading books in 1998. This figure was expected to fall further as a
result of an increase in television watching and Internet usage. This
has resulted in a decline in the number of households purchasing books
and the quantity of books purchased.
People who read a lot of books are increasingly electing to purchase
used books at substantial discounts. The Internet has made use book
purchasing very easy, with sites like Amazon incorporating used book
listings alongside new book listings. The obvious price advantage is
attracting many readers.
The larger number of titles being published each year, and the large
displays required by superstore book retailers, are generating a large
volume of returns. Many of these are ultimately sold at a significant
discount or are repulped at a total loss. Prices for new books have
gone up to try to cover these expenses, but this also makes many
titles harder to sell, exacerbating the problem. 2005 book sales also
shows signs that the book reading audiences fragmenting, which will
create further economic challenges for traditional book publishing.
Unless digital books become a large part of the bookselling industry
soon, the industry's supply chain will have to change if smaller
publishers are to survive. Technologies like print on demand would
undoubtedly be beneficial. However, such a development would require
brick-and-mortar booksellers to market books without relying upon a
large physical display of books.
Sources:
"Self-publishing will spur book industry to modernize" By Laura
Vanderkam, USA Today (March 22, 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-03-22-vanderkam_x.htm
"Electronic ink may rewrite book publishing industry" by Andrew
Kantor, USA Today (February 24, 2006)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2006-02-24-e-ink_x.htm
"The end of books?" BY KEVIN NANCE AND MIKE THOMAS, Chicago Sun-Times
(July 22, 2004) http://www.suntimes.com/output/books/cst-nws-insight22_book.html
"2005 Numbers Crunched: A Strong Book Year?Better-Performing Releases
Than in '04" By Ed Christman, The Book Standard (January 09, 2006)
http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/retail/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001808409
"Quest for best seller means lots of returned books" By Jeffrey A.
Trachtenberg, The Wall Street Journal (June 03, 2005)
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05154/515469.stm
Search terms: change bookselling industry; change book industry |
