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The Accelerated Pace of eBook Growth in Brazil

Posted on 2013-Oct-21

by BB eBooks Staff

Brazilian Publishers Going Digital

Binary

In Brazil, today’s research from the Câmara Brasileira do Livro (CBL) shows that Brazilian eBook market’s growth skyrocketed 350% in 2012. Although the eBook market is less than 1% of the entire book one, there are some promising details signaling the publishers’ adaptability to turn digital. According to the survey done in the research, 68% of Brazilian publishers have already sold eBooks. 70% of the respondents said that they sold eBook with DRM. In terms of distribution method, 52.4% outsourced that to online vendors whereas 58.7% resorted to other sales channels.

Room to Grow

Doorknob

Although it remains disputable at what percentage eBooks have penetrated the book market in Brazil, Susanna Florissi, CBL Director, clearly expressed her positive feedback with digital publication that there were limitless possibilities within the eBook model where it could go from PDF to application and cloud service with interactive features. Given the fact that two leading smartphone companies—Google and Apple—are expanding their business internationally, it is more likely that eBooks will gain higher acceptance among smartphone subscribers. Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President at Google, tweeted back in September, to stress the significant data of 1 billion Android activations.

Tweet

So far, there are 5 million books available in Google Play in Brazil whereas the Apple Store trails far behind to offer the readers more than 1.5 million eBooks. With the combination of the 2 stores, mobile platforms can naturally boost content accessibility and eventually the sales of eBooks. GigaOM cited a report on global eBook sales and how the eBook market in many countries, including Brazil, will see a booming growth. Particularly in Brazil, the growth will hugely benefit from two factors: several eBooks vendors started selling eBooks last year and there is a possibility that the Brazilian senate is discussing a bill to “make both eBooks and dedicated E-Ink readers tax-free.”

More Works to Be Done

Apart from the efforts from the mobile platforms that have brought in greater variety, several well-known titles in the public domain are now being digitally reproduced to make the catalog more complete: the complete works of Fernando Pessoa, Shakespeare’s plays, Sophocles and Gil Vicente, Joaquim Nabucco books, Aluisio Azevedo, Eca de Queiroz, Miguel de Cervantes and Jules Verne, and children's literature. The most popular eBooks is Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy that has garnered more than 2 million downloads.

Expanding eBook Catalog

Thai

Last week, BB eBooks covered the overall picture of the Book Expo 2013 in Thailand. Perhaps, the reason that the sales of eBooks cannot outperform its print counterparts in the regional market is the catalog. When a big publisher aimed to introduce a legendary series of books in eBook format to fans, Thai readers thrillingly anticipated in the eBook launch of a classical literature, Phet Phra Uma, written by a well-respected author, Panomtien, despite the limited presence of eBook catalog in the bookstores. The eBook launch and autograph signing events were well received by fans of different generations who waited patiently to see their favorite author and request his autograph. Although it remains to be seen how publishers are willing to digitize other backlist titles, the eBook launch party last week spoke for itself what the fans really needed and how the publishers can prioritize to meet the fan’s demand.

Label: eBook Industry News

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