Hot Book Trends in 2010: eBooks Dominate

by RM Fiedler

eBooks, hardcovers, and Stieg Larsson are the hot trends for the first half of 2010. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) reports on the eBook boom for May 2010 book sales, which “grew 162.8 percent for the month ($29.3 million)” and observes that “year-to-date eBook sales are up 207.4 percent.” The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) estimates that the 2010 first quarter electronic book sales in the US alone totaled $91 million--almost double the $55.6 million for the last quarter of 2009.

The IDPF also shows a dramatic increase in annual eBook sales numbers from $60 million in 2008 to almost triple that in 2009 at $175 million. With the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s Nook, the demand for electronic books has increased exponentially. In fact, the birth-of-the-worldwide web prediction that book sales would decline has proved to be a misnomer since traditional book sales, as well as eBooks, have been on the rise in general. The AAP reports that in May 2010, publishers’ book sales increased 9.8% compared to May 2009, totaling $715.3 million. These sales increased 11.6% in the period January through May 2010 compared to the same period last year.

Interestingly, in contrast to the increase in eBook sales, the AAP also reports that “the Adult Hardcover category was up 43.2% percent in May with sales of $138.5 million; sales for the year-to-date are up by 21.7% percent.” Paperback sales decreased slightly in May, but were slightly up in year-to-date sales. Why the larger increase in more-expensive hardcover over cheaper paperback sales? Perhaps, it’s in the fiction. In-demand bestselling fiction authors publish books in hardcover slightly in advance of paperback releases.

Internet Retailer reports that the five most popular authors, “Charlaine Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts—have each sold more than 500,000 Kindle books.” According to the NY Times July 2010 best seller list, the late Stieg Larsson’s The Millennium Trilogy crime novels, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest lead the hardcover and paperback fiction bestseller lists this summer.

In the online arena, however, eBooks seem to be the preferred choice. According to Internet Retailer, Amazon claims that in the first few months of 2010, it sold between 140-180 Kindle eBooks for every 100 hardcover books. “About 510,000 books available for Kindle are priced at $9.99 or less, including 75 New York Times best sellers,” reports Internet Retailer, and almost 2 million free out-of-copyright books are available for download.

Works Cited

”2010 Sales "OFF THE CHART" vs. Previous Quarters Q1 10 Sales = $91.0 M.” Industry Statistics: US Trade Wholesale Electronic Book Sales. International Digital Publishing Forum.

“Amazon Sells More eBooks than Hardcover Volumes.” Internet Retailer. 20 July 2010.

“Publishers’ May Book Sales Increase 9.8%; Year To-Date Sales Increase by 11.6%.” AAP. The Association of American Publishers. 14 July 2010.