In time for the recently-concluded 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair, Vienna-based publishing consultant Rüdiger Wischenbart has released yet another update for The Global eBook Report: Current Conditions & Future Projections, documenting and analyzing how e-book markets have emerged in the US, UK, continental Europe, Brazil, China, India, Russia and the Arab world.
“Over the last few years, we have seen enormous growth in the U.S. and in the UK. But everywhere else, it was still about expectations,” Wischenbart tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “But now, over the past year, we have seen all across western Europe that e-books have started to emerge and evolve.”
Not surprisingly, the digital publishing success story follows a familiar pattern, in a classic “chicken and egg” scenario.
National e-book markets in Europe, Wischenbart explains, “follow pretty much the growth pattern that had previously been seen in the U.S. and in the UK – it starts slowly in a curve, and then suddenly it gets real momentum because the devices are there, but perhaps even more important, the books are there.”
The Global eBook Report combines the best available data and references to specialized local actors, with thematic chapters, focusing on critical policy debates, as well as on key driving forces, notably e-book bestsellers and pricing strategies.
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