E-book Trends

I recently saw some rather shocking publishing statistics — growth in the e-book world has truly skyrocketed.  According to the Association of American Publishers, in the month of June, e-books sales jumped 118.9%.

If we look at all of 2010, we see an enormous 204% growth in e-book sales.

Holy digital publishing, Batman!  No wonder Amazon has sold more Kindle editions than hardcovers.  Readers (myself included) are switching to the more accessible world of e-books, and the numbers suggest that there’s no turning back.

Meanwhile, sales of YA hardcovers grew by 19.6% in June.  Yay!  More people reading YA!  Oh, but hold the phone…  Looks like YA hardcovers have actually dropped 16.7% for 2010, and YA paperbacks have fallen 5%.  Oh, poo.

Too bad AAP doesn’t list how those e-book sales break down.  How many of those were YA?  How many of those sales were pre-ordered copies of Mockingjay? (At least one sale from me!)

So tell me, who has an e-reader?  I do, I do!  I have a love affair with my Kindle.  (I know, I know.  Please don’t barrage me with your anti-Amazon sentiments.)  My dad, brother, and sister all have Kindles too… And fabulous-crit-partner-Holly has a Nook she adores.  We’re all bibliophiles, and we’ve all transitioned smoothly into e-books.  Don’t get me wrong — I love hardcovers and paperbacks — but my shelves are full and I can’t afford German book prices.

Are you pro e-books are anti?  What about YA novels — are you one of the many people avidly consuming them?

-S.

P.S. Is there a dash in “e-book”, or is the word sans dash with a space a là “e book”, or is it without a dash and without a space like “ebook”?