e-books and e-readers

The recent announcement that Borders was closing over 200 stores nationwide came as no surprise, since it was public knowledge that this company was rapidly losing market share. The reason: the increased costs of production and the emergence of new and improved digital readers like the iPad and Kindle. Added to this is the increased production of e-books in a variety of genres. A more effective marketing of e-books was also an important factor in the increasing popularity of this new book format.

Amazon recently reported that sales of e-books had surpassed those of paper books for the first time. While this was not an unexpected announcement, given the increased popularity and better resolutions of e-readers, it was nevertheless tinged with a certain degree of regret. Borders' announcement did little to improve the mood.

The first victims of the closures are the hundreds of workers who will surely lose their jobs. The second group who will feel the absence of an outlet for their production is that of authors and publishers. Even though there are many stores and small chains that will continue to sell books, the reality is that none of them possesses the logistics and accumulated knowledge of retail sales like Borders. Publishers will probably feel the need to lower production figures to reflect the absence of a major player.

The reasons why sales of e-books have surpassed the sales of physical books are varied. One of the main reasons is the ease with which an e-book can be bought. All the reader needs to do is to surf the net and search for the book he is interested in. Seconds later he could be enjoying a good book. Another factor is the lower price of the e-book, several times less than that of a normal book. A point in the publisher's favor is that there is no need to have a physical inventory. Instead of warehouses bulging with unsold books, there will only be a computer program that produces the book. For famous authors accustomed to huge advances, there will probably be some bad news.

New authors will probably find it easier to sell their first book. Low advances will enable the publisher to recover the outlay quickly, while the author will receive royalties sooner. The lower prices for a digital download mean that there will be increased sales.

Undoubtedly, we are now entering a new era in the world of books. Authors, publishers and readers will have to adapt to a new way of writing and selling books.