Traditional books on paper open a new chapter of success

Another piece celebrating the bouyancy of print and slowdown in ebook expansion:

Public affection for print runs deeper than some had thought. On the eve of the London Book Fair, a three-day trade extravaganza that starts on Tuesday, optimism is rippling through the industry that it can weather the digital age. The idea that the ebook will kill the paperback seems increasingly like a tall tale.

Total spending on print and electronic books increased by 4% to £2.2bn in 2014, according to market data firm Nielsen. Ebooks now account for around 30% of all books published, including almost 50% of adult fiction. But the decline in print is levelling off as migration to ebooks declines. For some in the industry, it is a sign the dust is beginning to settle after the great digital shake-up.

“Ebooks will continue to grow, but the speed of growth has started to slow and perhaps we are getting close to saturation in some areas,” said Steve Bohme, consumer director at Nielsen.

Millennials, the generation supposed to be glued to their screens, still buy paperbacks. Sales of children’s literature in print rose by 9% in 2014, largely driven by teens, twenty- and thirtysomethings buying fiction marketed as young adult, such as the Hunger Games series or The Fault in Our Stars, John Green’s love story about a teenager with cancer. The mood has also been buoyed by the resurgence of Waterstones, which reported a 5% rise in physical sales in December.

via Traditional books on paper open a new chapter of success | Books | The Guardian.