Posted on 2013-Feb-06
International Satisfaction
2012 was a great year for eBooks and eReaders to make ways into the consumer’s purchasing behavior. For readers, based on our previous blog post about the out-of-stock eReaders and the Infographics, American children are reading their eBooks more than ever. Looking internationally, German eBook site, eBook.de, reports that they “more than tripled” sales in their final quarter of last year. A survey shows the stark contrast that the 40+ year old readers contributes to 52% eBook sales. Not so surprisingly, most eBook buyers choose to read digitally. According to Good E Reader, their collection significantly grows from 404,000 to 668,000 titles. For a proficient German speaker, you can go directly here to directly obtain the accurate information for your reference.
eBook Popularity in India
Elsewhere in Asia, India is seeing a younger generation of readers embraces eBooks. Portability seems to be the winning factor that helps consumers pick eBooks. However, dedicated eReaders still do not receive the fair share of attention since they are considered a niche market. The reading flexibility on personal computer and mobile devices is adequate to make digital reading possible. A student discusses the advantage of eBooks and mentions “interesting promotional offers.” Apart from buying the eBooks of Steve Jobs, Harry Potter, and Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat, the same student wants to buy the print version for his “personal collection.”
Fine Arts students also find eBooks useful for their studies since print versions are rare. Having researched on the internet, he can download the book instantly from trustworthy sources and read it virtually on any devices whether they be personal computer or smartphone that has eReading apps. As opposed to the print book, the search function on eBooks makes it much easier for the student to look for particular information.
Amazon Canadian Store Frustration
Having followed the updates on Amazon Canadian store, it seems that Amazon wants to promote local business entrepreneurs, which includes local authors. Nevertheless, the actual experience of publishing locally still faces the uphill climb as one Canadian author complains. Being praised as a self-publisher, Eden Baylee does not thoroughly enjoy the experience of working with her local KDP program. The problem is the price tag on her eBooks fluctuates for no particular reason. For example, when her book was originally priced at US$3.99, the actual price tag on the U.S. store would appear slightly higher as US$4.04 at the Canadian store due to the fact that Canadian dollar was stronger at the time of purchase. But when she tried to buy one of her own books priced at $4.99, the price mysteriously showed $5.04 on the U.S. store. To make matters worse, she was charged CDN$5.16 in her billing statement. Inconsistent pricing is not the only confusion she had issues with. Losing the option to “Look Inside” does tend to plague her impression with Amazon. With the feature gone, new readers might not be able to make their purchasing decision as quick as it should be.
In Summary
The international success of the eBook confirms that general readers are becoming aware of reading convenience. In Germany, eBooks sales do have room to grow organically and consistently. In India, the young generation has proven that education via eBook has made their life so much easier. Better still, the niche market segment of eBook buyer promotes the sales of books as a spin-off for personal collections. In brief, they are willing to read and collect the artifacts which will benefit the discoverability of author’s future works. Somehow, due to the issues with Amazon local store raised by an independent author, it seems Amazon has a work cut out for the KDP team to win back the impression they have vowed to facilitate self-publishers to succeed with little help from major publishers. Hopefully, we will hear feedback from indie authors in other countries as well.
Label: eBook Industry News
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