Survey Finds eBook Revenues Surpass Meaningful Threshold
NEW YORK/FALLS CHURCH, VA—June 5, 2012—Publishers Weekly (PW) magazine and Aptara announce that initial results from the “4th Annual eBook Survey of Publishers,” conducted in April, reveal a 100-percent year-over-year increase in the number of publishers making greater than 10 percent of their annual revenues from eBooks (36 percent of eBook publishers surveyed as compared to 18 percent in 2011). This marks the first year since the survey was initiated in 2009 that eBooks are making meaningful contributions to publishers’ top lines.
“eBooks have reached a tipping point,” said Dev Ganesan, president and CEO of Aptara. “The ‘more than 10 percent of revenue’ barometer has been used by analysts to indicate when eBooks will be considered big business for publishers. With more than a third of eBook publishers already there, I’d say it’s official.”
The further maturing of publishers’ eBook operations and the eBook market in the last year has also resulted in:
- four out of five publishers now producing eBooks,
- with the majority doing so for more than half of their entire catalog, and yet,
- the standard operating procedure is still to release a print and digital edition, with only 11 percent of publishers issuing primarily digital-only editions.
“The survey results provide the freshest look at how eBooks are impacting all parts of the industry up and down the supply chain," says PW’s co-editorial director Jim Milliot.
To learn what eBook pricing model is most widely adopted, what eBook distribution channels publishers favor, whether Amazon or Apple makes publishers more money, and how eBook and enhanced eBook production methods are evolving, request a copy of the complete 2012 survey results and analysis to be released this summer The results include a breakdown by publisher type—trade, education, professional and corporate.
About Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly is the international newsmagazine of the book publishing industry. Founded in 1872 and published continuously since then, the weekly trade magazine publishes six newsletters, including PW Daily and PW Tip Sheet; five blogs; and a robust Web site. The magazine has also launched a mobile edition, digital editions and an app. Publishers Weekly reviews more than 8,000 books each year, in addition to featuring author interviews and news about bookselling, marketing, merchandising and the publishing trade, along with regular columns on rights, people in publishing and bestsellers.
About Aptara
Aptara enriches content for capitalizing on all digital mediums. Providing full content lifecycle production – from content creation and design, to new media enhancements, content technology solutions, and production for all mobile devices and platforms – Aptara develops innovative digital products that deliver content how, when, and where recipients want it, while providing publishers renewed agility and revenue opportunities.
Source: Aptara.
