RIP Microsoft ebooks, 2017-2019

Fortune

Nearly 10 years after Amazon introduced its Kindle e-book business, Microsoft has decided finally the time is right for a Windows competitor.

Interesting Engineering, 7/2/2019

Microsoft's ebooks are all going to play a disappearing act this month. The tech company's book section hasn't been meeting sales targets, so they've decided to pull the plug on the whole thing.

From 1972 to 1974, Dr. John made 4 appearances on the Billboard Hot 100, "Right Place Wrong Time" being the most notable.  The song debuted at #82 for the week ending 4/14/1973 and spent 20 weeks on the chart, 4 of them in the top 10.  It peaked at #9 for 2 weeks.



Related posts:
UPDATE. Books sales up slightly in 2017; downloadable audio soars, 3rd year of ebook declines.  (5/10/2019)
Are ebooks finally moving out of the trough of disillusionment?  (3/12/2019)

Are ebooks finally moving out of the trough of disillusionment?

Source:  Gartner (R)

Our love affair with ebooks is over.  (Good e-Reader, 3/11/2019)


Original 5/28/2014 post, "Which is What You Would Have Predicted After Reading 'In So Many Words' in March 1997", starts here.

Digital vs Print: What Is The Future of Reading? (Good Ereader, 5/28/2014)

"In So Many Words"

Other ebook/reading-related posts:
Amazon delivers the "Lesley Gore" ultimatum.  (4/25/2014)
The boom is over for ebooks.  (4/2/2014)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology: Have we finally reached the slope of enlightenment?  (3/11/2014) 
Pew Research report on e-reading.  (1/16/2014)
Book sales update as of October 2013.  (1/10/2014)
The 24-hour news recycle: Mein Kampf edition.  (1/7/2014) 
Peering into the reader's mind.  (12/25/2013)
Booksellers hope print is on shoppers' gift lists.  (12/20/2013)
Survey sez: News of the death of print is greatly exaggerated.  (12/9/2013)
Not a Good Year on the Ebook Front for Barnes & Noble.  (11/29/2013)
Tell me again about ebooks ruling the publishing world.  (11/27/2013)
Other ebook market trendspotting confirms latest BISG report .  (11/1/2013)
Book Industry Study Group: "Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading" (Volume 4, 2013).  (11/1/2013)
Word of the day:  accretive.  (10/21/2013)
Survey sez: 72% of U.S. adults have read at least 1 book during the past 12 months.  (10/8/2013)
For years, many people asked the wrong question about ebooks and print books.  (10/6/2013) 
Ebook Flash Sales Grab Consumers' Attention.  (5/27/2013) 
BookStats 2013: It's not all about ebooks.  (5/15/2013)
Staying ahead of the learning curve.  (4/9/2013)
"Books are dead yet," sez Salon.  (3/21/2013)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology.  (1/8/2013)
Based on this column graph, print books are not likely to go away anytime soon.  (1/2/2013)
Printed books still lead ebooks by a significant margin.  (12/28/2012)
Ebook market pauses to take a breath.  (12/25/2012)
Year-to-date book revenues:  Jan-Jul 2011 and Jan-Jul 2012.  (11/1/2012)
Libraries get screwed when it comes to price of and access to ebooks.  (9/10/2012)
Millennials lead the way....to fewer bookstores?  (8/22/2012)
Ebooks sliding down the peak of inflated expectations.  (8/18/2012)
Adult hardcover book sales hold their own, paperbacks sales drop in 1st quarter of 2012.  (6/17/2012)
Library ebook circulation skyrockets @ the Greendale Public Library and throughout Wisconsin.  (5/29/2012)
In so many words:  Libraries will have a place at the table. (4/30/2012)
3M Cloud Library ebook lending service goes beta at select libraries.  (4/28/2012)
Pew Research:  The rise of e-reading, summarized. (4/5/2012)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution attempts to get a handle on the ebook era.  (4/2/2012)
And I quote from "Bringing Up an E-Reader".  (3/29/2012)
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board weighs in on ebooks and libraries. (3/19/2012)
Carl Zimmer responds to Franzen.  (1/31/2012)
It's only Monday but this is still the best ebook headline of the week.  (1/20/2012)
Jonathan Franzen has something to say about ebooks.  (1/30/2012)
As they have been doing all along, libraries adapt to technology.  (1/29/2012)
Floating an Idea: The Harvard Library Innovation Laboratory's Library License.  (1/17/2012) 
Getting in line @ your library for ebooks.  (1/15/2012)
The Post-Christmas ebook sales surge. (1/10/2012)
Honey, we've been 'trying' it.  For years.  (12/25/2011)
Chris Bohjalian on our totemic connection to books.  (12/20/2011)
Hold that bricks-and-mortar bookstore obituary.  (12/13/2011)
Your local public library: The greenest option of all in the ebooks vs. print books debate.  (12/11/2011)
Go directly to Amazon, do not pass library.  (11/3/2011)
Ebooks in U.S. public libraries.  (10/22/2011)
How ebook buyers discover books.  (9/27/2011)
Cookbooks make the transition to digital publishing.  (9/27/2011)
Redefining what an ebook is and who gets to publish it. (9/19/2011)
The L.A.Times on ebooks: An Amazon tablet, push into interactivity. (9/16/2011)
The Economist:  "Great digital expectations".  (9/16/2011)
Lev Grossman presents a short history of the reading device..  (9/6/2011)
Speaking of gadgets, here's the latest iteration of ebooks.  (8/25/2011)
Sounds like another digital divide in the making.  (7/30/2011)
Libraries and ebooks:  Any book, not any time soon.  (6/1/2011)
On the distinction between the book reader and the book owner.  (5/10/2011)
Demand for ebooks grows exponentially in Wisconsin.  (5/2/2011)
Struggling to find an ebook common agenda between libraries and publishers.  (4/5/2011)
Ebooks and libraries:  "The challenges just keep piling up".  (3/28/2011)
Publishers Weekly tracks ebook sales.  (3/18/2011)
Word is getting out:  Ebooks @ your library.  (3/18/2011)
Ebooks continue to gain market share.  (3/17/2011)
Publishers look to bottom line in formulating ebook policies for libraries. (3/15/2011)
News stories on HarperCollins ebook decision go mainstream.  (3/5/2011)
9 years of book sales:  trade and ebook.  (2/17/2011)
Will ebook readers be wooed by Barbara Cartland?  (2/12/2011)
The impact of ebooks on libraries.  (2/11/2011)
OverDrive news release: Library eBook circs up 200% in '10. (1/10/2011)
Mashable: 5 ebook trends that will change the future of publishing. (12/29/2010)
Christmas 2010 the tipping point for ebooks?  (12/24/2010)
Ereader as brown paper bag.  (12/9/2010)
The ebook reader compatibility surprise.  (12/3/2010)
Ereader ownership:  Survey says....  (11/30/2010)
David Carnoy asks, "Does the Kindle pay for itself?" (11/29/2010)
Need to repair that ebook reader?  (11/19/2010)
Who uses an ereader:  Survey says....  (9/22/2010)
Book industry wrestles with print vs. pixels.  (9/2/2010)
Coming soon to a screen near you:  Ads in ebooks.  (8/20/2010)
Ebooks now comprise 8.5% of book sales. (8/12/2010)
Genre paperback publishers drops print.  (8/6/2010)
Ebooks and libraries.  (5/4/2010)
Ebooks eliminate a free form of advertising:  the book jacket.  (3/31/2010)
Ebooks: another round of false promises?  (3/19/2010)
The skinny on ebooks.  (3/8/2010)
Hardcover vs. ebook:  Breaking down the costs.  (3/1/2010)

UPDATE. Books sales up slightly in 2017; downloadable audio soars, 3rd year of ebook declines

Book Publisher Revenue Up For Adult Books, University Presses in 2017.  (Business Wire, 5/9/2018)


2/8/2018 update, "Still small in overall sales, audio books continue their double-digit growth", starts here.

Audiobook Sales Increased 26.2% First Three Quarters of 2017.  (Good e-Reader, 2/7/2018)

Yikes!  As if the activity of reading a book has never been a deeply immersive experience.  One of the big reasons why ebooks saw a decline in the first nine months of 2017 was due to no new technologies driving growth. In the past e-readers, tablets and apps fueled the explosion in digital reading, but in the past few years nothing new has come along. The industry is hoping that AR and VR will be the next frontier that will drive a more immersive experience.

10/27/2017 update, "Print shares appropriate Mark Twain quote:  "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated", starts here.

E-books Declined 4.6% and Audio Grew 32.0% in 2017.  (Good e-Reader, 10/26/2017)

Although e-book sales are no longer declining in double digit figures for the past year, print sales continue to soar. This has been a boon for bookstores all over the United States, especially indie shops. According to the American Booksellers Association, independent bookstores are thriving — with a 25% increase in ABA membership since 2009. Bookstore sales are up 6.1% since January 2016, the U.S. Census Bureau reports.

9/13/2017 update, " January-April 2016-2017 book sales comparison:  revenues and percentage change", starts here.

Downloaded Audio Up 34.4% in April 2017.  (AAP, 9/11/2017)


8/2/2017 update, "2016-2017 1st quarter book sales comparison:  revenues and percentage change", starts here.

AAP reports book sales revenue up 4.9% in Q1, while eBook sales revenue falls 5.3%.  (Talking New Media, 8/1/2017)


2/24/2017 update starts here.

AAP: Print and audiobook sales revenue increase through first 3 quarters of 2016, but eBook sales by member publishers falls 18.7%.  (Talking New Media, 2/24/2017)


2/16/2017 update starts here.

eBooks sales were down 18.9% from January to August 2016.  (Good Ereader, 1/25/2017)
Audiobook Sales Increased 26.2% First Three Quarters of 2017

12/20/2016 update starts here.

E-Book sales were down 19.2% and Audio up by 31.1% in July 2016.  (Good Ereader, 12/20/2016)

11/16/2016 update starts here.

AAP: US book sales down 3.4% in first half of 2016; eBook sales down 20% through June.  (Talking New Media, 11/15/2016)


10/20/2016 update, "Snapshot of May 2015/2016 book sales", starts here.

Source:  Talking New Media

10/5/2016 update, "Snapshot of April 2015/2016 book sales", starts here.

Or 'statshot', if you will.

Book Sales Down 7% in April: AAP StatShot.  (GalleyCat, 10/4/2016)


Original 9/23/2016 post, "Digital audiobooks are kicking butt", starts here.

And so is Carl Hiaasen.

Audiobooks Turn More Readers Into Listeners as E-Books Slip.  (The New York Times, 9/23/2016)

Possible contributing factors to overall 2.7% decline in revenue.

• No 'monster' bestseller, a la "The Girl on a Train", which sold 2,000,000 copies in the first 4 months of 2015.
• Adult coloring book fad fadeout.  Sales increased to 12,000,000 in 2015, uip from 1,000,000 in 2014.
• Increase in downloadable audiobook sales.  (Since my wife started to ride the bus to work, she has abandoned ebooks for audiobooks.)

As for me, I still check out audiobooks at the public library.

Whenever  I read Hiaasen in print, my wife will ask me the following question over and over again:  "What's so funny?"

Related posts:
Pew Research: Print books remain the preferred format for reading.  (9/5/2016)
Year-to-date book sales comparison.  (7/29/2016)
Snapshot of 2014/2015 comparable book sales by general format.  (4/28/2016)
Overall, sales of print books are up for 2nd year in a row.  (2/22/2016)
The fact of the matter is that net sales of hardback and paperback books have held relatively steady for the past 5 years.  (1/28/2016)
Print continues to hold its own.  (1/21/2015)
Is this the future of e-books?  (8/27/2014)
Who's reading ebooks (by household income). (7/20/2014)
Ebook digital subscription services: Is it a bjargain? (7/20/2014)
Which is what you would have predicted after reading "In So Many Words" in March 1997.  (5/28/2014)
Amazon delivers the "Lesley Gore" ultimatum.  (4/25/2014)
The boom is over for ebooks.  (4/2/2014)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology: Have we finally reached the slope of enlightenment?  (3/11/2014) 
Pew Research report on e-reading.  (1/16/2014)
Book sales update as of October 2013.  (1/10/2014)
The 24-hour news recycle: Mein Kampf edition.  (1/7/2014) 

Ros Barber sez 'get me rewrite': Desperate egomaniacs self-publish 625,327 books in 2015

Good e-Reader, 10/4/2016

For me, traditional publishing means poverty. But self-publish? No way. (The Guardian, 3/21/2016)

Related post:
Self-Publishing and Public Library Collection Development Policies.  (8/26/2012)

Pew Research: Print books remain the preferred format for reading

Source:  Book Reading 2016 (Pew Research Center)

Photo credit:  Pew Research Center

Quoted in No, the Internet Has Not Killed the Printed Book. Most People Still Prefer Them.  (The New York Times, 9/4/2016)

Source:  Kairos m

Reported in Are print books really disappearing?  (BBC, 2/16/2016)

Print, the new poetry.  “Print will exist, but it will be in a different realm and will appeal to a very limited audience, like poetry does today.  However, the locus of intellectual discourse is going to move away from print.” 

Affordance is a psychology term defined as follows by Merriam-Webster: the qualities or properties of an object that define its possible uses or make clear how it can or should be used

The Apple iPhone was introducted on June 29, 2007.

The Apple iPad was introduced on April 3, 2010.


Related posts:
Year-to-date book sales comparison.  (7/29/2016)
Snapshot of 2014/2015 comparable book sales by general format.  (4/28/2016)
Overall, sales of print books are up for 2nd year in a row.  (2/22/2016)
The fact of the matter is that net sales of hardback and paperback books have held relatively steady for the past 5 years.  (1/28/2016)
Print continues to hold its own.  (1/21/2015)
Is this the future of e-books?  (8/27/2014)
Who's reading ebooks (by household income). (7/20/2014)
Ebook digital subscription services: Is it a bjargain? (7/20/2014)
Which is what you would have predicted after reading "In So Many Words" in March 1997.  (5/28/2014)
Amazon delivers the "Lesley Gore" ultimatum.  (4/25/2014)
The boom is over for ebooks.  (4/2/2014)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology: Have we finally reached the slope of enlightenment?  (3/11/2014) 
Pew Research report on e-reading.  (1/16/2014)
Book sales update as of October 2013.  (1/10/2014)
The 24-hour news recycle: Mein Kampf edition.  (1/7/2014) 

Year-to-date book sales comparison

February AAP’s StatShot Data shows eBook sales by big member publishers continues to tank.  (Talking New Media, 7/26/2016)

The standard caveat.  Every month these reports come out and the basic story is the same: print books are fine, but digital sucks. Of course, the same follow-up story is the same, too: the AAP report only says what is happening with one part of the market.

Related posts:
Snapshot of 2014/2015 comparable book sales by general format.  (4/28/2016)
Overall, sales of print books are up for 2nd year in a row.  (2/22/2016)
The fact of the matter is that net sales of hardback and paperback books have held relatively steady for the past 5 years.  (1/28/2016)
Print continues to hold its own.  (1/21/2015)
Is this the future of e-books?  (8/27/2014)
Who's reading ebooks (by household income). (7/20/2014)
Ebook digital subscription services: Is it a bjargain? (7/20/2014)
Which is what you would have predicted after reading "In So Many Words" in March 1997.  (5/28/2014)
Amazon delivers the "Lesley Gore" ultimatum.  (4/25/2014)
The boom is over for ebooks.  (4/2/2014)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology: Have we finally reached the slope of enlightenment?  (3/11/2014) 
Pew Research report on e-reading.  (1/16/2014)
Book sales update as of October 2013.  (1/10/2014)
The 24-hour news recycle: Mein Kampf edition.  (1/7/2014) 

Digital fatigue: U.S. readers decide not to contribute to this ebook prediction

Mobile World Live, 11/24/2014

Source:  E-book Sales Decline, Digital Fatigue Grows.  (Publishers Weekly, 6/17/2016)

The Codex survey also found that though book buyers stated they spent almost five hours of daily personal time on screens, 25% of book buyers, including 37% of those 18–24 years old, want to spend less time on their digital devices. Since consumers almost always have the option to read books in physical formats, they are indicating a preference to return to print.  [emphasis added]

Related posts:
The tables are turning in the publishing business. (3/23/2016)
Read an ebook lately? Increasingly, the answer is 'no'. (7/17/2015)
The bloom is decidedly off the ebook rose.  (4/29/2015) 
Print continues to hold its own.  (1/21/2015)
Is this the future of e-books?  (8/27/2014)
Who's reading ebooks (by household income). (7/20/2014)
Which is what you would have predicted after reading "In So Many Words" in March 1997.  (5/28/2014)
Amazon delivers the "Lesley Gore" ultimatum.  (4/25/2014)
The boom is over for ebooks.  (4/2/2014)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology: Have we finally reached the slope of enlightenment?  (3/11/2014) 
Pew Research report on e-reading.  (1/16/2014)
Peering into the reader's mind.  (12/25/2013)

The tables are turning in the publishing business

So far this decade, these types of quotes have typically defended the viability of print, as in...

...But print books enjoy good market share, and are here to stay."

Photo credit:  LinkedIn

Related posts:
Read an ebook lately? Increasingly, the answer is 'no'. (7/17/2015)
The bloom is decidedly off the ebook rose.  (4/29/2015) 
Print continues to hold its own.  (1/21/2015)
Is this the future of e-books?  (8/27/2014)
Who's reading ebooks (by household income). (7/20/2014)
Which is what you would have predicted after reading "In So Many Words" in March 1997.  (5/28/2014)
Amazon delivers the "Lesley Gore" ultimatum.  (4/25/2014)
The boom is over for ebooks.  (4/2/2014)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology: Have we finally reached the slope of enlightenment?  (3/11/2014) 
Pew Research report on e-reading.  (1/16/2014)
Peering into the reader's mind.  (12/25/2013)