Would you be shocked if I told you Millennials are putting down their electronic reading devices for print books? Publishers Weekly released a series of studies that all collectively point to the decline of eBook readership over the past two years. Let’s get all the numbers out of the way before we discuss the possible reasons as to why this is happening.
eBook sales fell 14% in 2015 and lost 3% of their presence in the trade publishing industry. Additionally they lost another 3% of their presence in the overall book market. In other words, eBook sales have seen a sharp decline since 2015 and sales are continuing to drop in 2016.
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The most shocking thing that has come from Publisher Weekly’s research is that millennials want to spend less time on electronic devices in general. Their article, “As E-book Sales Decline, digital Fatigue Grows,” shows that the majority of book buyers spent about five hours a day of personal time on computers. This is not even including time spent in front of a computer at work! Adding those numbers together could mean people are spending up to 10 to 12 hours a day on electronic screens.
For many, books are seen as an escape from reality. With technology becoming a stronger and stronger presence in our reality, it may be no surprise that readers are ditching their computer screen for some good ol’ ink on paper.
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The debate between eBooks and print books has been going on since eBooks have hit the scene. Yes, the recent evidence against eBooks seems to indicate a trend reversal that nobody expected. But that does not necessarily mean that eBooks are going to stop being relevant.
eBooks play an important role for a specific kind of reader. Some people do not have the luxury of sitting comfortably with a good book in their own personal space. On the go readers who manage to squeeze in some literature on the train or bus will always have a need for travel friendly eBooks. For now however, the pro-print crowd is enjoying the possibility that print books are becoming cool again.
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