Between 2008 and 2010, readers migrated to new digital devices, like the Nook and the Kindle and e-book sales soared, up 1,260% alarming booksellers that watched consumers use their stores to find titles they would later buy online. Print sales dwindled, bookstores struggled to stay open, and publishers and authors feared that cheaper e-books would cannibalize their business.
But now it seems turnaround is fair play as E-book sales have fallen by 10 percent in the first five months of this year, according to the Association of American Publishers, which collects data from nearly 1,200 publishers.
Digital books accounted last year for only 20% of the market, roughly the same as they did a few years ago. It could be that the written word, while not completely immune to technological upheaval, will weather the tidal wave of digital technology better than music or television.
ABC’s Scott Goldberg joined us from New York.
