Senin, 14 Maret 2011

E-books: Revolution with Obstacles

The E-book is intended to allow authors to bypass publishers. But there is a startup problem, the reader is attached to the paper. Amanda Hocking was once a geriatric nurse. Now she's gravedigger an entire industry. The 26-year-old American woman writes vampire novels. Their attempts to inspire, literary agents for the works failed. Ado Hocking then published their books in digital form on Amazon - no publisher, no book stores.

Anyone with an e-book reader of the Internet department store, order the books online. More than a dozen different titles Hocking has published through this channel, earned several million dollars in this way.

Hocking is only one example among many - and scares the literary world. Were e-books so far primarily an American phenomenon counted, the Association of German Book Trade in this year a "breakthrough" for digital literature here with the country. "Value chain within the industry is the change," said Alexander Skipis, chief executive of the Association of Süddeutsche Zeitung . In other words, no stone is left unturned.

Digital books are still a niche business. The e-book sales is a share of only 0.5 percent or a two-hundredth of the total revenue from subscribers in Germany.

Just 21.2 million euros have been implemented last year in Germany with e-books, except for school and books. Comparative figures are missing. The Booksellers Association has the numbers now, first levied for the segment and made public on Monday.

Every tenth point is digital

In the United States there is such market studies for some time. According to Association of American Publishers there the business grew with electronic literature in the past year by 164 percent to 441 million dollars. Almost every tenth book will be delivered in the States according to the figures from the Publishers' Association already in digital form.

For Germany, the Stock Exchange Association now expects a similar development. "The market for e-books will take shape this year, so that we can generate significant revenues in some years," said Exchange Club chief Skipis. The publishers estimate that e-books in four years make up 16 percent of all book sales. The book trade is more pessimistic: he believes that, in 2015 only nine percent of the proceeds from the sale of digital product.

The discrepancy can be explained by authors such as Hocking. Those who buy his e-book on an electronic platform, does not need a bookseller. More than half of the surveyed store owner anticipates that by 2015, with sales declines.

Nine percent were raised even to a softening of the market by a quarter of today's sales one - or more. "The book trade, it must succeed, the customers who come to him today in the shop, and virtually retain them," says Skipis.

exist to counter the Great in the network, is for the bookseller from next door but no easy task. The computer manufacturer Apple, the Web retailer Amazon and the search engine giant Google: The U.S. companies operate e-book stores on the net and have the experience from the United States.

The three have been taught to fear other industries, such as the music industry whose business model has collapsed over the past decade. In the U.S. now sells no one - even offline - more music than Amazon. Do not worry is: "Everything that serves the book is good at first," declares the Exchange Club general manager.

Publishers are unnecessary

In view of the boom there is a whole different problem. The customer. The German loves the printed book. 82 percent prefer buying books on paper, up even to a survey of 2009. Only two percent like it electronically.

Above all, easy to use tablet computers like the Apple iPad, such as the simple purchase of a book store in the iBook will be passing the test customer. Skipis also expects price cuts for e-books when the investments have paid the publishers for now.

The best book by Internet-best-selling author Hocking costs less than a dollar. A millionaire she has made the online sales of their books because of the sheer masses anyway.

As a gravedigger looks Skipis still not the business model Hocking. "Of course, authors can make their books online, but that it is not done," he says. "Editing, production, market positioning - this will always require a publishing house."

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