During a recent tour of Orlando, the town of Mickey Mouse and grid locked highways, I learned that several bookstores had recently closed. The motive for my search would be obvious to writers, but to those who simply want to peruse the stacks the news that bookstores are becoming hard to find may be a revelation. I googled the topic and this is what I came up with. (source: Open Education database)
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Stats on the State of Bookstores in America Today
– 12% drop in number of stores since 1997
– bookstore sales/retail sales dropping steadily
– eBooks have $3.2 billion of market
– Amazon has 22.6% of market
– more than 1,000 bookstores closed between 2000 & 2007
Independent bookstores dropped from 2,400 to 1,900 from 2002 – 2011
-megaChains are suffering too
– northern cities read more than others
– The average book buyer is 45 to 64, white, has a high income, is married, lives in the west, and is a college graduate.
– bookstore revenues expected to fall over 1%, closings exceed 2%
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While bookstores seem to be faring better than other retail establishments, the closings of which are announced on an almost daily basis, the question remains as to where this will end?
eBooks seem to be the viable alternative? What happens to book signings when the cheaper alternative is digital? How do you sign one for a fan?
Amazon seems to be the big growth medium, but how can a title gain maximum exposure on the internet’s biggest retailer?
Presently, my publisher is featuring a 25% discount on THE SHADOW ZONE until 31 July 2015 and this creates greater reduction from the already featured dpInk deep pocket discounts.
dpInk Author: Richard Paracka 