Report Summary
Now in its third year, Simba’s Trade E-Book Publishing report series has been recognized as the source for independent and myth-busting analysis on the most exciting but least understood segment of trade books.
For our 2011 edition, Simba has upped the ante by continuing its exclusive, nationally representative survey of U.S. adults on a quarterly basis, allowing the authors of the report to add new e-book devices (including the iPad and the Nook Color) to our coveted device analysis and add more questions on this ever-changing segment.
This new edition expands on Simba’s already-extensive e-book category analysis, updated demographic data of e-book buyers, data on how consumers really feel about pricing, projections on how many consumers will enter this market in the coming years, and much more.
The report also provides demographic intelligence about the e-book consumer—including gender, age, household income, education level and more. Simba has also studied the average number of e-books read by consumers of the format and compared it to what is known about the consumption of print titles. Since Simba’s survey does not target book buyers exclusively, we are able to capture the nuances of the common e-book reader in ways the competition just can’t match.
Trade E-Book Publishing 2011 also features trends and pitfalls in the marketplace, key publisher and retailer initiatives, new psychographic details of consumers and a thorough device analysis. You can’t afford to be without this groundbreaking analysis.
Stamford, CT - April 27, 2011 -Trade E-Book Publishing 2011, the survey also revealed a shift in demographic makeup of the e-book buyer from men to women during 2010-which brings the e-book format more in line with longtime trends in print books.
Although the iPad has generated a lot of hype since its launch in April 2010, the survey reveals most owners do not use it to read books, suggesting the device is used for games and other media instead. The report finds owners of tablet devices do not make up the majority of e-book users, with 45% of survey respondents citing the PC or Mac as their e-reading device.
"A lot of people equate the sale of a new gadget with the creation of a new reader, and it just doesn't happen," said Michael Norris, senior analyst and author of the report. "In both the offline and online world, there are a lot of independent factors and distractions that will keep a person from discovering and enjoying a book."
According to the report, demographic shifts occurred within the population of e-book buyers in 2010, with women now outnumbering men. The shift was a dramatic change from the 2009 results, which revealed 13% of men and 9% of women had purchased an e-book.
"In 2009, about 6,000 people a day bought an e-book for the first time," added Norris. "2010 expansion was less dramatic on the newcomer side, but the population of e-book buyers shifted away from the disengaged and occasional buyer and towards consumers who are more committed to reading print and digital books in general."
The report, Trade E-Book Publishing 2011 includes an analysis of e-book consumption for smart phone and tablet devices, including Amazon's Kindle, Apple's iPad and iPhone and Barnes and Noble's Nook, as well as projections on which devices are expected to lead through 2013. In addition, the report provides a complete demographic profile of the e-book reader and features an extensive look at the best performing e-book titles, authors, imprints and categories.
- Table of Contents
- Methodology
- Executive Summary
- Chapter 1: “More Books Than You Can Ever Read in a Lifetime”
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- Do you Read E-Books?: Yes or No
- The Scale of the Market
Table 1.1: E-Book Overview: Percentage of U.S. Adults Who Have Read/Purchased an E-Book in the Last 12 Month
Table 1.2: Paperback Book Consumption vs. E-Books 2010
Table 1.3: Total U.S. Trade Book and Electronic Book Net Sales, 2005-2010
Chapter 2: Trends & User Demographics in the E-Book Marketplace
Consumption Trends of E-Book Consumers vs. Print Book Consumers
E-Book Users Aren’t Always Active Users
Prices Mostly Stabilize But Experiment Continues
Lack of Windowing Cannibalizing Print
Free E-Books Taking Up Consumer Bandwith
Digital Rights Management Controversy Continues
The Demographics of the Electronic Book Buyer
- Gender
- Age Group
- Marital Status
- Children in Household
- By Employment Status
- Educational Attainment
- Race Ethnicity
- Urban vs. Suburban Locale
- By Household Income Bracket
E-Books and the Children’s/YA Segment
Table 2.1: Overview of Book Purchasing Population (U.S. Adults): Customer Trends for Print Books
Table 2.2: Number of E-Books Read in the Past 12 Months 2008-2010
Table 2.3: E-Books User Buying/Purchasing Habits (Past 12 Months)
Table 2.4: Average Price, Top 25 and Top 100 Bestsellers, January- December 2010
Table 2.5: Best Performing Book with Prices, 2008-2010
Table 2.6: Psychographic Analysis: “I Am Spending Less on Books Because of the Economy”
Table 2.7: Overview of Book Purchasing Population (U.S. Adults): Hardcover’s Two-Year Slide
Table 2.8: Consumers Acquiring Free E-Books from Library and Non-Library Sources (Past 12 Months)
Table 2.9: Average Price, Top 100 Bestsellers, 2009-2010
Table 2.10: E-Book Demographics by Gender
Table 2.11: E-Book Demographics by Age Group/Generation
Table 2.12: E-Book Demographics by Marital Status
Table 2.13: E-Book Demographics by Children in Household
Table 2.14: E-Book Demographics by Employment Status
Table 2.15: E-Book Demographics by Educational Attainment
Table 2.16: E-Book Demographics by Race/Ethnicity
Table 2.17: E-Book Demographics by Urban vs. Suburban/Rural Locale
Table 2.18: E-Book Demographics by Household Income Bracket
Table 2.19: Class Share of Bestsellers, 2010
Chapter 3: Trade E-Book Publishing: Title and Category Analysis
Introduction
- New Titles
- Top Titles Overall
- Top Authors
- Top Imprints
- Top Categories
- Category Growth
- Advice & How-To
- Biographies & Memoir
- Business & Investing
- Children’s eBooks
- Fantasy
- Fiction
- History
- Humor
- Literary Fiction
- Mystery & Thriller
- Nonfiction
- Parenting & Families
- Politics & Current Events
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction
- Sports
- Travel
Table 3.1: 2010 Composite List Overview
Table 3.2: Top 50 New Titles January-December 2010
Table 3.3: Top 20 New Titles, Amazon Kindle, January- December 2010
Table 3.4: Top 20 New Titles, Barnes & Noble Nook, January-December 2010
Table 3.5: Top 20 New Titles, Sony Reader, January-December 2010
Table 3.6: Top 50 Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.7: Top 20 Titles, Amazon Kindle, January-December 2010
Table 3.8: Top 20 Titles, Barnes & Noble Nook, January-December 2010
Table 3.9: Top 20 Titles, Sony Reader, January-December 2010
Table 3.10: Top 10 Titles, 2008-2010
Table 3.11: Top 50 New Authors, January-December 2010
Table 3.12: Top 50 Authors, January-December 2010
Table 3.13: Top 10 Authors, 2008-2010
Table 3.14: Top 50 New Imprints, January-December 2010
Table 3.15: Top 50 Imprints, January-December 2010
Table 3.16: Top 10 Imprints, 2008-2010
Table 3.17: Top Publishers by Percentage of Total Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.18: Top Publishers by Percentage of Total Rating, January-December 2010
Table 3.19: Top 20 Electronic Book Categories, January-December 2010
Table 3.20: Top 20 Trade Book Categories, January-December 2010
Table 3.21: Top 10 Categories, 2008-2010
Table 3.22: Bestseller List Category Comparison
Table 3.23: Amazon Kindle Categories by Total Growth, December 2009-December 2010
Table 3.24: Sony Reader Categories by Total Growth, December 2009-December 2010
Table 3.25: Barnes & Noble Nook Categories by Total Growth, December 2009-December 2010
Table 3.26: eReader.com Categories by Total Growth, December 2009-2010
Table 3.27: Bestselling Advice & How-To Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.28: Advice & How-To on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.29: Bestselling Biographies & Memoir Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.30: Biographies & Memoirs on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.31: Bestselling Business & Investing Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.32: Business & Investing on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.33: Bestselling Children’s eBooks, January-December 2010
Table 3.34: Children’s eBooks on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.35: Children’s eBooks Category Rating by Bestseller List, January-December 2010
Table 3.36: Bestselling Fantasy Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.37: Fantasy on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.38: Fantasy Category Rating by Bestseller List, January-December 2010
Table 3.39: Bestselling Fiction Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.40: Fiction on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.41: Fiction Category Rating by Bestseller List, January-December 2010
Table 3.42: Bestselling History Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.43: History on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.44: Bestselling Humor Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.45: Humor on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.46: Bestselling Literary Fiction Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.47: Literary Fiction on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.48: Literary Fiction Category Rating by Bestseller List, January-December 2010
Table 3.49: Bestselling Mystery & Thriller Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.50: Mystery & Thriller on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.51: Mystery and Thriller Category Rating by Bestseller List, January-December 2010
Table 3.52: Top 10 Mustsery & Thriller Titles, 2008-2010
Table 3.53: Top 20 Mystery & Thriller Authors, January-December 2010
Table 3.54: Top 20 Mystery & Thriller Imprints, January-December 2010
Table 3.55: Bestselling Nonfiction Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.56: Bestselling Parenting & Families Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.57: Bestselling Politics & Current Events Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.58: Politics & Current Events on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.59: Bestselling Reference Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.60: Bestselling Religion & Spirituality Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.61: Religion & Spirituality on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.62: Religion & Spirituality Category Rating by Bestseller List, January-December 2010
Table 3.63: Bestselling Romance Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.64: Romance on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.65: Romance Category Rating by Bestseller List, January-December 2010
Table 3.66: Top 10 Romance Titles, 2008-2010
Table 3.67: Top 20 Romance Authors, January-December 2010
Table 3.68: Top 10 Romance Imprints, January-December 2010
Table 3.69: Bestselling Science Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.70: Bestselling Science Fiction Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.71: Science Fiction on Bestseller Lists, January-December 2010
Table 3.72: Bestselling Sports Titles, January-December 2010
Table 3.73: Bestselling Travel Titles, January-December 2010
Chapter 4: iPhone, Kindle Nook, PC: Platforms for E-Book Consumption
The Evolution of E-Book Formats
The Platforms
- The Personal Computer
- Mobile Phone or PDA
- Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch
- Apple’s iPad and other Tablets
- Dedicated Reading Devices
The Future of Dedicated Devices
The Most Popular Devices Today
Table 4.1: Select Current U.S. E-Book Reading Devices, by Launch Date
Table 4.2: Devices Used to Read E-Books, 2008
Table 4.3: Devices Used to Read E-Books, 2009
Table 4.4: Devices Used to Read E-Books, 2010
Chapter 5: Recommendations and Forecasts
Table 5.1: Formats of Books Purchased by Adult Population: 2011-2013 Projections
Table 5.2: Devices Used to Read E-Books: 2011-2013 Projections