Bloomsbury Publishing is reporting that half of their total sales now stem from eBook sales in some markets. Overall, digital sales accounted for 17% of Bloomsbury’s total revenue in the first half of 2013 compared to 11% in the 2012 six month period.
“Our Adult division enjoyed a very good interim result, reflecting an impressive new book programme including And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner) and The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, as well as a flourishing cookery list,” said Nigel Newton, chief executive.
One of their strongest earners right now are cook books such as Masterchef: the Finalists and the Paul Hollywood’s Pies and Puds. Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things, the follow up to the bestselling Eat, Pray, Love, is expected to generate strong sales over the Christmas period.
One of the avenues of growth for Bloomsbury is the recent acquisition of law publisher, Hart, in September for £6.4m in cash. Their intent is to market the eBooks to academic libraries, online re-sellers and schools.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
