Over the course of the past three or four years, ebooks have been experiencing constant declines in revenue. The most frequently cited reasons is that they cost too much and people have gravitated back to print. Whatever the reason might be, in 2019 ebooks are making a comeback. For the second month in a row they are starting to see gains.
In the United States, revenue for eBooks increased, going up 0.4% in July and garnered $83 million in sales. This followed a 4.2% increase in May 2019. Meanwhile digital audiobooks came in at nearly $47 million for the month, an increase of 17.5% over the same month in 2018, while physical audio declined by 22.3%, to $3 million.
In the United States the increase in ebook sales is not affecting print. Hardcover and paperback net revenue grew 6.7% as compared to July of last year, reaching $585 million for the month. So it looks like more people are reading now, which is great.
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.
