Last month we asked you to fill out a short survey about your e-reader use, and now I have the results. You may have noticed that the BookPage print edition (starting in January 2011) includes a note on whether each book we cover is available in e-book form. We know that more and more of our readers are choosing to enjoy books digitally, but we wanted a better sense of how many.
Looking at these numbers, it’s clear that a significant portion of our online readership—50% of those of you who chose to fill out the survey—own e-readers. For the most part, those of you who don’t already own an e-reader don’t want one. If you have one, Kindle is king, although you still buy a mix of e-books and paper books.
The nitty-gritty:
DO YOU OWN AN E-READER?
WHICH E-READER DO YOU OWN?
IF YOU DON’T CURRENTLY OWN AN E-READER, DO YOU WISH YOU DID?
DO YOU PRIMARILY BUY E-BOOKS OR PAPER BOOKS?
By the way, these stats are more relevant than ever, as next weekend the New York Times will unveil their e-book bestseller lists. According to Publishers Weekly, there will be separate fiction and nonfiction e-book bestseller lists, along with a combined e-book and print bestseller list.
For a perspective on how e-book sales will grow, read this post from Michael Hyatt, Chairman & CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, who believes growth will be slower than industry execs think.
Also, read why Web Editor Trisha Ping has known for nearly two years that she will never travel with print books again.
Question for readers: Are you surprised by these survey results?
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an 85 year old aquaintance of mine just loves her e-reader that her family gave her last year ( 2010 ). reason ?? her increasingly frail arms no longer have to hold / prop up heavy books while she is reading in bed at night before turning in.
plus she is reading 2 – 3 more books than she did previously.
she is computer savvy / technologically adept, loves to download new reading material and also is super aware of how environmentally friendly her e-reader is ( no more trees cut down / less wsste due to production process change ( no printing, no ink, no hauling of trees, less water and air pollution, etc )).
she reads her newspapers, her magazines and her books all on her e-reader.
at 85 years old.
the change is a – comin’ !! All Abooooooooooard !!!!
That is a great point — that e-readers can help with the comfort level of reading. I know some people also like them because you can zoom in on text (eliminating the need to buy pricey large print books).
My 86-year-old grandmother has never used a computer, so I’m impressed your friend is using an e-reader!
I want to buy a Kindle or comparable for my 86 yr old mother. Her eye sight is getting bad and she needs large print books and/or needs to use a magnified len. I don’t own one…she doesn’t have the internet and she lives far from us, does she need to go to book stores to have them upload books?