Paper Book sales versus Digital Book Sales
Sam Larson
Books, boring, but a heavy part of our economy. Books are everywhere! But, the Ebook is taking over the paper book. Looking at the opportunity cost between Ebooks and paperback books, is that Ebooks are much less expensive. The average price for an Ebook is about $8.00, compared to a paperback book falls ahead by $13.95-$17.35. There’s a lot of opportunity cost there.
Think about how many people buy books a year, whether it be for fun or for school. Then think about the people help to make the books. At The New York Times company, they employ 3,710 people. This is just one company, there are hundreds more out there, and lots of job positions. About 133,130 people are employed in the publishing industry (not including labor workers). If we were to lose the paper book industry, it would significantly hurt our economy. Not only are there just paperback books there is also hardback books, and a major money maker, textbooks. One of the largest textbook companies is McGraw-Hill Education, this a US based company. However, in the world, they are not in the top five, instead are number nine. The revenue they bring in is about $2.190 million as of 2015. While this isn’t a large number, there are many other publishing companies in the US, each making less than the other, however. But colleges somehow manage to charge people about $68 for a textbook, however, some textbooks cost about $200.
Now, let’s look at Ebooks. Ebooks are not on the rise, based on a publisher’s survey. The Ebook has sold 424 million books, while paperback books sells 1.18 billion books. However, they only make 6.74 billion as of 2016. Compared to how each item is created, the paperback book has more components of being put together. For example, the Ebook only requires the publishing company. There are no labor workers to help build the books, because it’s only digital, unlike paperback books. Therefore, they are able to bring in more money from the books and charge less, because there isn’t as many people involved of the publishing of the book. Overall, books bring in a lot of revenue for the economy. 
Writer, Staff. "Book Sales Decline at the Start of 2016." Book Business. N.p., 27 June 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/book-sales-start-2016-ebooks-decline/>.
Pignataro, Juliana Rose. "Book Trends 2016." International Business Times. N.p., 16 Nov. 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <http://www.ibtimes.com/book-trends-2016-are-paperback-hardcover-print-sales-rising-e-book-sales-falling-2447017>.
"Amazon." Amazon - Press Room - Press Release. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1521090>.
"Careers Information." About CollegeGrad.com's Career Profiles - CollegeGrad.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <https://collegegrad.com/careers/about#conditions>.
"About the Publishing Industries (except Internet) Subsector." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag511.htm>.
"Open Textbooks Can Help Students save Money on Course Materials | Money." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <http://time.com/money/4017003/high-text-book-prices-solution/>.
"The World's 57 Largest Book Publishers, 2015." PublishersWeekly.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/international/international-book-news/article/67224-the-world-s-57-largest-book-publishers-2015.html>.
"U.S. Publishing Industry's Annual Survey Reveals Nearly $28 Billion in Revenue in 2015." U.S. Publishing Industry's Annual Survey Reveals Nearly $28 Billion in Revenue in 2015. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <http://newsroom.publishers.org/us-publishing-industrys-annual-survey-reveals-nearly-28-billion-in-revenue-in-2015>.
* All Products Require an Annual Contract. Prices Do Not Include Sales Tax (New York Residents Only). "U.S E-book Sales Revenue 2014 | Statistic." Statista. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <https://www.statista.com/statistics/190800/ebook-sales-revenue-forecast-for-the-us-market/>.
Ebooks create a substitute good to regular printed books. However, although ebooks are cheaper, a lot of people still like to feel the paper between their fingers. This preference increases the demand for printed books. However, since the ebooks are cheaper, it would make sense that in the future the quantity demanded would increase, as long as people are willing to make the switch from paper to electronics.
ReplyDeleteI think there will always be a market for both, or at least, ebooks aren't about to take over for a while. As you said, ebooks still aren't beating physical books based on the publishers survey you mentioned. While the ebook is more desirable for publishers since the means to supply the product is significantly less expensive, a lot of consumers still prefer or are simply to used to purchasing a physical copy of a book. While having a device with an entire library of books can be more convenient, other factors like potential damage, needing to charge, or the risk of losing your entire library if the device gets stolen, provide good reasons for a consumer to still support the physical book industry, leading publishers to still produce the undesired alternative.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very great analysis of the current status of the online vs paper books issue. One thing also worth noting is the decline of newspapers. Newspapers are very uncommon in the modern house hold but news websites are not and are many Americans source of news.These issues are very closely related so its worth mentioning.
ReplyDeleteThe importance of paperback and hardcover books in our economy is not very surprising. Ebooks eliminate the physical production step in the process, which can arguably be more efficient, however, stripping away that step will eliminate jobs. Additionally, I believe that most authors have the dream of getting their book published physically and sitting on the shelves of bookstores rather than, or in addition to being available as an Ebook. Personally, I also feel a sense of accomplishment when I physically finish a paperback/hardcover book, which to me isn’t the same as reading it electronically. Especially since an argument can be made about the harmful effects of “screen time”, I don’t think that paperback/hardcover books are going anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI think it's true that we need to keep paper books in our economy and in circulation and not just use ebooks for a couple of reasons. The financial aspect is an important one, and I wish you would've included the number of workers who work on actually printing the books in factories because that would really help to determine the actual economic and employment impact that a loss of the paper book industry would cause. Additionally, at least in my opinion reading from a actual book is much easier than from an ebook as eventually reading online hurts my eyes while I could go hours reading a regular book.
ReplyDeletePersonally I am a fan of real books and finding reading to be more enjoyable when I have a real copy of the text in front of me, vs. a screen. A lot of society today is based off technology, which can be great, but reading was meant to be an escape from the world, and with it technology. I think reading should stay more towards real books rather than Ebooks, because we can be less dependent on technology. The point that books create a lot of jobs for the economy also backs up the idea that we need them. Although it doesn't seem like hard work, or work that many people do, having those jobs open for people to print the books can aid a lot in today's economy.
ReplyDeleteOverall, this is a great topic of interest especially for high school students who are involved in English class or just simply enjoy reading. What I was wondering is how much the Ebooks cost versus the average paperback book? This could show the difference of these two products on the market and how consumers view them.
ReplyDeleteBooks certainly are important, not only to the economy, but also for people all around the world. E-books are definitely much more convenient because they are mobile through the internet and save resources. However, nothing replaces a paper book. Being able to write in the pages with a marker and being able to feel the physical book is the opportunity cost of e-books. I use Amazon to buy kindle books because the kindle e-books are cheaper than physical books. Another benefit is that I can never lose the kindle books because they're stored online or in the app. E-books are the better option for me, as it saves me money and is more available. Because of this, I think the e-book industry will eventually grow so big that paper books will cease to exist one day.
ReplyDeleteThe true determinant of what will sell better is what the people want. I, like most people, love the feel and smell of real books, which you can't get from an e-reader. Books are continuing to sell well because the feeling of flipping through the pages and underlining your favorite parts is irreplaceable. The opportunity cost of saving money vs holding a real book is very big to me. Personally, I will always buy a real book and so will many others.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not read very often outside of school so I don't have a certain preference regarding paperback or digital books. However, I do believe that if digital books were to ever replace hard-copy books with future advancements in technology, many people who work for hard-copy publishing companies would lose their jobs. Without the paperback book industry, companies would lose a significant amount of profit, so I don't think they should be totally replaced.
ReplyDeleteI do read often outside of school. I would rather read a paper book, not a digital book.I believe that digital books however will take over in the future because so many people use them already. There would be a high level of companies that print books that go out of sale if this would happen. However, new jobs may be created in order to change the process into a more digital based process. There would be a lot of profit lost to companies that print hard copies of books. But obviously the digital companies would gain back this profit.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see e-books on the rise. While I do enjoy reading actually paper books, an e-book would be much easier to use because you would never have to worry about having the correct amount of light of trying to re-position a big book you are reading. I think that books and e-books can co-exist for a while, but in a few years e-books will be dominating the market. This will probably mean that some people lose their jobs, but now there will be new positions opening like people who create websites to see the books or people that help fix glitches people experience when buying books.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a bookworm as a child and I would always ask for Barnes and Nobles gift cards. However, sometimes I would not have enough money in gift cards for all of the books that I wanted to purchase. My mom would also get sick of spending so much money in book fairs. As I got older I got a Kindle, which is a form of an e-reader. They offer far more benefits when purchased, because they offer books for cheaper, and I could purchase them at home, without going to the store. So, yes, the e-reader is much more efficient for consumers. The only downfall is increased screen time (where there is debate over electronic reading because it isn't viewed as a way to break away from technology). People also argue there would be a lack of jobs, however I don’t think it would be a crazy amount because (other than printing companies which still print textbooks and don’t stop printing hard copies) there would be books printed still, and other jobs created for the e-reader companies. I do agree that they are dominating the market because of their easy use. However, sometimes I prefer to just have a paper copy of a book.
ReplyDeleteEbooks are definitely a convenient thing for people to have. It gives you a space where you can store all your books on one device. However, there are people like myself who prefer the real version of the book. I like being able to hold it and have the book itself just as a collectible, and I know there's people who feel the same way. But then again the Ebook is also convenient in allowing people to browse for books and buy them all in the comfort of their home, as well as keeping every book in one place. I've used both, but overall I feel it really depends on the reader and what they prefer. I don't think hard copy book companies are going to go out of business, because there will always be people who like having the actual book. But I definitely thing Ebooks will be on the rise for their convenient and modern take.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is very relevant seeing that many things have been changing and advancing in our economy, especially technology based objects. But in my opinion, I think there will always be a market for both. Even if ebooks become more popular, there is still going to be a significantly large amount of people who prefer purchasing a physical hard copy instead of the technology provided digital book.
ReplyDeleteOverall, this is a great topic of interest especially for high school students who are involved in English class or just simply enjoy reading. What I was wondering is how much the Ebooks cost versus the average paperback book? This could show the difference of these two products on the market and how consumers view them.
ReplyDeleteBooks are always interesting no matter what the Genre is. Since childhood, I have been brought up with physical books and never used the Kindle or any type of e-books as my reading source. In my opinion, paperback books are much significant to the society but not efficient to the economy. As you said, companies like McGraw-Hill have to invest a lot of money for the production of books. They have to pay for the labor and various factors of production and they end up being loss as they spent more they have to gain. On the other side, paperback books are significant for the society because they show the importance of reading and encourage kids or teenagers to be involved in the reading, e-books can never show the importance as it could be a distraction for many of us. Therefore, book companies should still be printing books but should stop re-printing the old books because it would end them in loss.
ReplyDeleteEbooks have completely changed the game for bookstores. Especially because they don't always have to be paid for now, there are ways around that. Many websites offer ways to download them without paying and there are only advertisements on the website that are meant to generate revenue. Additionally, colleges still require textbooks, but more frequently they have been available online. There are also students who buy old textbooks or rent them so there are no new books being sold.
ReplyDeleteFinding the best Wireless High-Speed Photo and Document Scanning System is a challenge as Epson FastFoto FF-680W device comes with a lot of functions, and it has been designed to simplify the entire photo scanning process. This device is equipped with a 5.0 megapixel, color scanner, color laser printer, and a USB cable.
ReplyDelete