Consumer book sales fell 4% in volume and value in 2013, according to Nielsen Book’s Books & Consumers Annual Review, released Monday 28 July.
The decline came from consumer purchasing of books in print, with the number of ebooks purchased increasing from one in five to one in four of all books bought. But the lower prices of ebooks resulted in their contribution to only 14% of book sales by value.
Ebooks accounted for more than 40% of adult fiction purchases, one in eight of non-fiction purchases, and one in 10 of children’s book purchases.
Within adult fiction, ebooks enjoyed their highest market shares in the romance, crime, and fantasy categories. In non-fiction, the bestselling ebook genres were true crime, self-help and mind/body/spirit. In children’s, the ebook share varied from one in five of adventure, fantasy and relationship stories to less than 5% of non-fiction and younger children’s formats.
Books & Consumers also reported a rise in sales of self-published titles.
Jo Henry, International Consumer Research Director at Nielsen Book, said: “One concerning trend noted in the survey is the drop in books being bought as gifts. In the UK, the share of the book market taken by gift purchases reduced 2% points, from 24% to 22%; this equates to a decrease of some 9m books bought as gifts in 2013 compared to the previous year, a phenomenon that has also been noted in the US Books & Consumers survey.
“In view of the importance of the gift market to the book industry, Nielsen Book Research is proposing a further study to understand what is behind the apparent decrease in the value that consumers are placing on books as gifts and what might be done to counteract this.”
The conference was broadly covered in the book trade press, and picked up more than 400 tweets on the #Bowker13 hashtag. Here are a selection of the main reports.
The number of publisher-owned online communities is set to more than double over the next two years, according to new research released today by Publishing Technology at The London Book Fair.
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The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.The Book Marketing Society is the representative body of marketing and communications professionals working within the book industry. We oversee a regular Awards programme, and produce a lively programme of member meetings, workshops, and social events, alongside training & development opportunities. Anyone who works for a book publisher, agency, retailer or associated area in communications is eligible to join.
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All BMS Members are entitled to sign up to the BMS Facebook group and join our online community of book marketers.
The group is the best way to be in know about our events, hear about our promotions and ask other BMS members for advise.