Kindle had been introduced in 2007, the Sony Reader a year before that, and there was some impact from these before the recession. But as you moved into 2009, commentators and observers of the industry were seeing that the only thing that had an upward movement in the book publishing industry were e–book sales. Now, of course, that’s misleading because, still, 95 percent of the revenues in the industry are coming from physical book sales. It’s just that the only thing that is growing are e–book sales, so everyone focuses their attention on that and says the “revolution” or the “crisis” of the book publishing industry is about e–books, and that’s not the case actually.
Is Publishing Doomed? JOHN B. THOMPSON with Williams Cole - The Brooklyn Rail
If you have any interest in the publishing industry, the so-called digital revolution or the changing world of media consumption, this is a must read interview.
