THE BOOK INDUSTRY
BY
THE
NUMBERS
What’s Happening in the
US Book Market?
Hello.
My name is:
Nadine Vassallo
Project Manager, Research & Information
BISG
Hello.
And BISG is:
The US book industry trade
association for research,
education, and best
practices.
How
big
is the
60,000
$27
billion
US
market?
publishers
in
revenue
Market stability
Net Sales (in US $B)
26,5
2008
27,1
2009
27,9
2010
27.4
27.1
2011
2012
Trade dominated industry
3.6
4,3
15,0
4.3
Trade
K-12
Higher Education
Professional / Scholarly
Digital growth in trade
$16
$14
$12
$10
$8
$6
$4
$2
$0
2008
2009
Physical Formats
2010
2011
Digital Formats
2012
Print’s not dead
9%
19%
72%
Physical
Digital
Bundled/other
E-growth slowing
$3 500
355%
$3 000
$2 500
$2 000
$1 500
199%
143%
$1 000
44%
$500
$-
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
400%
350%
300%
250%
200%
150%
100%
50%
0%
A New Opportunity:
Digital Book
Subscriptions
The subscription economy
 Subscription has taken hold in
the movie, TV, music industries,
and more…
Thanks to our sponsor
DOMINANT SUBSCRIPTION MODELS
The subscription economy
Is this the
end of ownership?
DOMINANT SUBSCRIPTION MODELS
What do publishers think?
 Subscription is inevitable
 84% predict positive impact
over next 5 years
Thanks to our sponsor
What do publishers think?
 Biggest benefit: chance to
reach new customers
 Biggest concern:
cannibalization of physical sales
Thanks to our sponsor
Market segments
 Scholarly presses most likely to
work with aggregators, libraries
Thanks to our sponsor
Market segments
 Future of textbook publishing
in Integrated Learning Systems
Thanks to our sponsor
Market segments
 Professional publishers have
established consumer
relationships; continue to sell
direct
Thanks to our sponsor
Market segments
 Trade publishers beginning to
join subscription services
Thanks to our sponsor
Open issues
 Access vs. ownership
 Breadth vs. depth
Thanks to our sponsor
DOMINANT SUBSCRIPTION MODELS
Companies to watch
Understanding
US Ebook Buyers
Maturing consumers
80%
60%
More than
a year ago
40%
Within the
last year
20%
0%
Sept. Jan. May Aug. Dec. Feb. May Aug. Feb. Aug.
2010 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2012 2012 2013 2013
Mixing formats
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
I mostly purchase e-books,
and purchase fewer print
books than I used to
I purchase e-books and
print books
interchangeably, or I
prefer some genres as ebooks and others as print
I now exclusively purchase
e-books
I no longer buy e-books,
only print books
Meet the
“Power Buyer”
Female
45-54 years old
Clerical worker
or homemaker
Kindle user
Acquisition
Amazon
B&N
Library
Power
Buyers
Other
Other
respondents
iBooks/iTunes
Ebooks.com
Google
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Devices
Kindle e-reader
iPad
Kindle Fire
Power Buyers
iPhone
Other
respondents
Android tablet
NOOK Color
NOOK e-reader
0%
20%
40%
60%
Devices
Kindle e-reader
Kindle Fire
iPad
Power Buyers
NOOK Color
Other
respondents
NOOK e-reader
Android tablet
iPhone
0%
20%
40%
All about affordability
Affordability
Readability (adjustable font size)
Portability
Ease of acquisition
Speed of access
Searchability
Environmental factors
0%
20%
Very important
40%
60%
80%
100%
All about affordability
$30
$25
$20
$15
$10
$5
$0
Sept.
2010
Jan.
2011
May
2011
Aug.
2011
Dec.
2011
Feb.
2012
May
2012
Aug.
2012
Feb.
2013
So expensive I wouldn't purchase it (Was: "Too expensive")
Expensive, but I'd still purchase it (was: "Expensive, but within reason")
Reasonably/fairly priced (was: "Great value")
Unusually cheap (was: "So inexpensive, you'd doubt the quality")
Aug.
2013
Genre
6%
5%
6%
Mystery/Thriller
18%
General Fiction
Biography/Autobiography
6%
Science Fiction/Fantasy
9%
18%
Cookbooks
Romance/Erotica
YA
8%
12%
12%
Travel
Literary
How-To
Genre
Romance/Erotic Fiction
Mystery/Thriller Fiction
General Fiction
Religous Fiction
Young Adult Fiction
Biography/Autobiography
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Literary Fiction
Business/Finance
History/Politics/Social Sciences
How-To Guides/Manuals
Travel
Comics/Graphic Novels
Cookbooks
0%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Prefer e-book
Prefer Print
”We’ve learned how to move
immersive reading from paper
to screen in a way that
satisfies the consumer.”
What enhancements do readers want?
Ability to lend
Easier library management
Ability to resell
Higher quality images
Importing from other sources
Ability to copy text
Embedded audio/video
Streaming audio/video
Higher quality tables
Social media integration
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Reader preferences
Would you be willing to pay more for an ebook if it was
published by a traditional publisher (rather than self-published)?
16%
22%
No
62%
Don't know
Yes
The author perspective
Source:
2014 Digital Book World/Writer’s Digest Survey
The author perspective
Source:
2014 Digital Book World/Writer’s Digest Survey
”The beauty of
self-publishing is the
ownership and control
of one’s work.”
In conclusion:
The opportunities
are endless!
What’s next for BISG?
 2013 sales report
 Digital content usage in
public libraries
 K-12 educational materials
Thank you!
Nadine Vassallo
Project Manager, Research & Information
Book Industry Study Group
nadine@bisg.org
@BISG
#bokdagen2014