Amazon released a press release today that gave some evidence that it is selling way more electronic versions of books then they are the hardbound cousins.
Today we were informed that during the past 30 days, Amazon customers purchased more Kindle books than print books–hardcover and paperback combined–for the top 10, 25, 100, and 1,000 bestselling books.
Also, in the same press release, an Amazon Spokesman told us that “For the top 10 bestselling books on Amazon.com, customers are choosing Kindle books over hardcover and paperback books combined at a rate of greater than 2 to 1. Kindle books are also outselling print books for the top 25, 100, and 1,000 bestsellers–it’s across the board,””This is remarkable when you consider that we’ve been selling hardcover and paperback books for 15 years, and Kindle books for just 36 months.”
In other news The Association of American Publishers’ latest data reports that e-book sales grew 193 percent between January and August 2010. Kindle book sales growth during the same period exceeded this rate.
It really looks like ebooks are in a resurgence and growing in popularity. The main factor swaying people towards the electronic version is the price. When a hard copy book is released, it usually sells anywhere between $20.00 to $50.00, where as the ebook versions usually price at $9.00 to $12.00. If you are an avid reader, it makes sense to get more bang for your buck and you can certainly do it with an e-reader like the Kindle.
Speaking of Kindles, our retail partner Shop e-Readers recently got a huge shipment of Kindle Graphite 3G and Graphite WIFI! Check them out if you are looking to purchase one for yourself or loved one for the holidays.
Check out the full Press Release.
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.
