Ebooks pass print in adult fiction for first time






Last year sales of books on Kindles, Nooks, iPads and smartphones passed printed book sales in the closely watched adult fiction category.

While ebooks have not yet surpassed print in total adult trade book sales, they did rule over all the other subcategories including hardcover fiction as well as the lower-priced mass market fiction and the higher-priced quality fiction known as trade paperbacks, according to the latest numbers being released today by BookStats.

The numbers are co-produced by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group.

There were 388 million ebooks sold last year, the survey revealed. That’s a 210 percent jump from the 125 million ebooks sold in 2010. On the revenue side, ebook sales more than doubled, to $2.074 billion in 2011, from $869 million in 2010.

The AAP did not release specific titles, but the ebooks counted such hits as “Unbroken,” by Laura Hillenbrand, as the top seller.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” by the late Stieg Larsson, was No. 2, according to some reports.

“While ebooks showed increasing strength, the combined print formats still represented the majority of publishers’ net revenues in the trade sector at $11.1 billion for 2011,” AAP spokeswoman Andi Sporkin said.

That’s because a printed book costs more than its digital cousin.

Asked when ebooks might emerge as the undisputed sales leader — with more than 50 percent of the revenue — Sporkin said, “That won’t happen for a while yet.”

In the adult fiction category, ebooks now represent 30 percent of net revenue.

When other aspects of the trade category are included, such as titles targeted at children and young adults, ebook growth is less spectacular — at just 15 percent of revenue and units sold.

The trade category is the term for books aimed at general interest consumers.

The ebook surge was not enough to offset a decline in total revenues in the overall book market, which encompasses the commercial, entertainment, educational, professional and scholarly sectors.

Overall book publishing revenue declined 2.5 percent in 2011, according to the report, to $27.2 billion.

The total number of units sold actually rose 3.4 percent to 2.77 billion books, up from 2.68 billion a year earlier.

The Borders bankruptcy in 2011, which saw more than 500 retail outlets shuttered, appears to have hurt book sales through brick-and-mortar retail outlets — where sales tumbled 12.6 percent to $8.59 billion.

Despite the decline, brick-and-mortar retail still ranked as the No. 1 sales channel in 2011.

Online retail sales grew 35 percent in 2011, to $5.04 billion, representing 18 percent of total books sold.

Bright spots — aside from the surge in ebooks, included the children’s/young adult category, which saw a 12 percent increase — to $2.78 billion, which was the largest jump of any subcategory.

In addition, the publishers’ sales picture was improved in large part by blockbusters like “The Hunger Games,” by Suzanne Collins.

Condé edict

Condé Nast insiders are still reeling from the news of an impending 10 percent cut in discretionary spending, a recent edict from corporate.

The decree has sparked rumblings that a de facto hiring freeze is now in place. And insiders are worried that if that doesn’t solve the revenue shortfall problem, then a new round of layoffs could be unleashed.

News of the mandated cuts in discretionary spending was first revealed by Women’s Wear Daily, which is part of the Condé Nast family.

Insiders worry that the 10 percent cut is likely to translate into deeper cuts. “The bulk of all discretionary spending takes place in the fourth quarter,” said one source. “And since September and October are when budgets are put together for next year, it’s doubtful you’ll get those dollars back.”

Condé insiders were trying to piece together what triggered the mandate. The most obvious culprit is the decline in ad pages in the crucial September issues.

Normally, Condé Nast would have released the numbers for its September issues by now, but the release has been pushed back at least another week.

Sources say that Glamour and Vanity Fair are going to be particularly hard-hit, although flagship Vogue is expected to come through the crucial month looking OK.

A Condé Nast spokesperson insisted that there was no hiring freeze formally in place and that the company is actually doing better than the magazine publishing world in general.

SI news

Terry McDonell, the group editor of Sports Illustrated, is expected to reveal to staffers by tomorrow that the buyout offer did not yield enough volunteers, forcing a number of involuntary cuts are taking place.

His restructuring plan aims at saving about $3 million in costs — and a dozen people or more could lose their jobs.

Only about nine people stepped forward to take a voluntary buyout package, according to one well placed source.
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