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Paper book sales in the U.S. rose again in 2016


Athena

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According to this article paper book sales in the U.S. rose again in 2016, by 3.3%. I don't know about worldwide numbers, I would hope them to be similar. I am saddened though by the fact that mass market paperback sales went down (7.7%) while hardcovers went up (5.4%), as I much prefer the paperbacks and fear publishers might stop making them at some point (some books I haven't actually been able to find in paperback even several years after release). Trade paperbacks are up 4% and board books 7.4% (until today I hadn't heard of the expression board book, but gladly Google helps). Physical audio went down 13.5%, digital audio went up (the article doesn't say by how much). Apparently non-fiction went up (including crafts books such as adult colouring books) whereas adult fiction went down, juvenile fiction stayed roughly the same.

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I've heard that e-book sales have sort of reached a plateau now, and it's interesting to see that Waterstone's have stopped selling Kindles.  I've noticed that a few books don't come out in paperback now, or only in the larger trade paperback, so I'll try to get a copy cheaply from Amazon (although I don't  really like big books).

 

Still, apparently vinyl records are now selling better than they have done for a long time, so you never know, there might be an upturn again!

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You never know. Personally I find it hard to understand why a lot of people still insist on reading only paper books. For me eBooks are so much easier - I mean, why buy loads of paper books that have to be stored and carried around when you can store over 3000 eBooks on one simple lightweight device. To me it just doesn't make sense, but of course it's each to their own. I know a lot of people feel that eBooks do not compare with the look and feel of a paper book, but you do get used to it. Personally the only paper books I now buy are reference books such as travel guides and so on.

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Well I'm generally a tech-loving person, but I have never been able to settle into ebooks - I've tried the traditional kindle, a kobo, the kindle app on my iPad, and then recently a paperwhite... and I keep going back to my physical books! I couldn't really tell you why, and it does disappoint me, as ebooks are often so much cheaper and/or there are lots of deals for them, but there you are, I'm keeping book sales going! ;-)

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I'm happy to hear paper book sales have gone up again this year.  I have the Kindle app on my iPad and have read maybe 2 or 3 books that way, but I prefer paper.  I by no means have the volume of paper books to fill dozens of book cases, but I love being surrounded by my books and enjoy looking at them and physically picking one up to flip through it.  Not to mention always having a book I'm currently reading on my nightstand or where ever.  I'm also constantly trying to cut down on my 'screen time.'

 

In the past few years I've slowly phased out my digital music as well, and when I buy it now I always buy LPs or CDs.  That's just me :D.

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I'm with Michelle and Peacefield on preferring physical books, and I'm delighted to hear that paper books are still selling strongly. :) 

 

I don't think there's any danger of paperbacks being phased out. They'll always be more popular because they're cheaper and easier to carry around.

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