Amazon UK has announced that E-book sales in the United Kingdom have surpassed total sales of hardback and paperback books this year. This comes only two years after the introduction of the Kindle in the UK. So far in 2012, Amazon UK sells 114 E-books for every 100 printed versions. This type of sales ratio is also found in the United States, but it took four years to reach the same level of E-book sales there.
If you want to sift through the self-aggrandizing text of the Amazon press release, there are some other interesting statistics to be found. The authors who use the Kindle direct publishing service receive up to 70% of the royalties from their books, so self-publishing has some immediate incentives And those who purchase E-books are buying at 4 times their previous rate.
This shift towards E-book acceptance may not be shocking, it may not hit headlines often, but it is a profound change in our use of media. I, for one, would never have believed that the majority of book sales from a major supplier like Amazon would be in an electronic format in 2012. The change has happened so very quickly, and is ongoing.
The convenience of having one device with hundreds of volumes has pushed aside the traditional formats. There will always be some books where you'll want a full hardback, perhaps even a first edition, but I suspect this trend towards electronic books will cut into paperback sales at an accelerating pace.
You can read more here.
