Once upon a time, before there was the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad and all the other eBook readers in the world, all we had were print books. But this is a new generation and according to the Association of American Publishers, all that has changed now! Their Bookstats 2012 survey¹ reports:

“[Even though] Brick-and-mortar retail remains the #1 sales distribution channel for publishers in 2011…the eBook phenomenon continued in 2011 with eBooks ranking, for the first time, as the year’s #1 individual format for Adult Fiction!”

Unlike printed books, eBooks are lightweight, easy on the eyes, and even more convenient than printed books when the book is long and heavy. Some people even read them on their smart phones. And for authors, the news gets even better: eBooks are selling!

eBooks are inexpensive; the royalties are high, and there are no shipping or printing charges. This means that even eBooks from first-time authors can compete with eBooks from the big publishing houses.

Need more convincing? Look at these oft-quoted statistics compiled by Christopher P. N. Maselli:

eBooks

• eBook sales grew 177% last year. Source
• 53% of those who buy eBook readers state that they now read more books than they did before. Source
• 51% of e-Reader owners increased their purchases of eBooks in the past year.
• 9% of consumers increased their purchases of hardcover books in the past year.
• Average number of eBooks read in a month is 2.6.
• Average number of print books read in a month is 1.9.
• 176% increase in U.S. eBook sales in 2009.
• 1.8% decrease from a year earlier in U.S. print book sales in 2009.
• 86% of e-Reader owners read on their device more than once a week.
• 51% of e-Reader owners read on their device on a daily basis. Source
• e-Readers are now owned by one in 10 Americans. 12% of Americans plan to buy one within 6 months. Source
• 50% of kids say they want to read an eBook. 1/3 of children say they would read more with eBooks. Source

The Kindle

• There are 700,000 titles in the Kindle library. Source
• Amazon sells 143 eBooks for every 100 hardcover books they sell…and that includes hardcovers not available in eBook format. Source
• The average Amazon customer buys 3.3x as many books after buying a Kindle than before they had one. Source
• Amazon controls 62% (some say up to 80%) of the entire eBook market and rising. Source
• Kindles allow users to highlight passages, make notes and share either directly to Facebook and Twitter.
• Amazon Kindle app available on most PCs and mobile platforms. Source
• One out of five people who buy digital books from the Kindle store don’t own a Kindle device. (IE 20% of sales are on iPads, etc.) Source
• The Kindle book, Secrets of the Terracotta Warriors was offered by Brian Lawrenson for free through Amazon. It received 4000 downloads the first day. Sales on other titles by Lawrenson went up 200% the next month. Source

The iPad

• iPad controls 16% of the e-Reader market and rising. Source
• iPad users downloaded more than 5 million eBooks in the first 65 days after it debuted. Source
• iPad sales are expected to be 15.6 million this year and 46 million next year. Source

The Nook

• Nook (Barnes & Noble) controls 20% of the market. Source

iPad vs Kindle

• iPad users: 65% male, 63% under 35, 39% make more than $80k.
• Kindle users: 52% male, 47% under 35, 44% make more than $80k. Source
• iPads and Kindles will be available through Best Buy, Staples, Target, Walmart (iPad only) and other retailers by year’s end. Source: Various.
• 44% of people prefer Kindle on the iPad over the iBookstore. Source
• One author who sells eBooks, stated she sold 6,315 titles through Amazon, while iBookstore only sold 16 copies. Source

¹Source: Bookstats 2012 Highlights, extracted August 6, 2012