Book Printing Outlook : Rolling With the Changes

It seems the love affair between hard-copy books and the reading public wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. Hence, the tendency to curl up next to the fireplace with a good e-reader is becoming more and more commonplace.

Digital books have certainly made their mark on the trade publishing side. According to BookStats 2013, which is co-produced by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group, e-books—driven by adult fiction and children's/young adult—have grown 45 percent since 2011 and now constitute 20 percent of the trade market. The continued loss of brick-and-mortar stores and the lower cost of e-books will continue to grow that figure.