An epic tale? Well, hardly – but the rise and fall of the e-book may the year’s most critical story for trade book publishers.
What lies behind the decline in e-book sales is hardly mysterious – one of the big 5 publishers has flatly pointed to “new retail sales terms” – yet sharp fall in children’s e-book sales goes far beyond price.
“Clearly price is certainly playing a role here. With the new contracts publishers have struck with Amazon and other distributors, e-book prices have indeed risen,” notes Andrew Albanese, senior writer for Publishers Weekly.
“With regard to children’s books, the format has just not taken off—and as a parent to two kids, I think I understand why,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “Kids e-books are apps. They are games, essentially. And they fall under screen time, rather than reading.”
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Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.
