Boom or Bust?

With the rise of the e-book, there has been a lot of hand wringing around the demise of the print book (now sometimes referred to as the p-book, which makes the 8-year-old boy inside of me chuckle). I lost track of how many articles and blog posts have talked using flowery, nostalgic speech about the smell of a good p-book (snicker).

 In fact, so much weeping and wailing has occurred over the loss of this olfactory experience, that somebody put up a website to make fun of them.  Their solution is an aerosol spray that turns an e-book experience into a p-book experience.

“If you’ve been hesitant to jump on the e-book bandwagon, you’re not alone. Book lovers everywhere have resisted digital books because they still don’t compare to the experience of reading a good old fashioned paper book.

“But all of that is changing thanks to Smell of Books™, a revolutionary new aerosol e-book enhancer.

“Now you can finally enjoy reading e-books without giving up the smell you love so much. With Smell of Books™ you can have the best of both worlds, the convenience of an e-book and the smell of your favorite paper book.”

When was the last time you heard somebody say, “Have you smelled the latest Harry Potter? They really nailed the musty smell.”

But all kidding aside, let’s look at the more serious question; are p-books really going the way of the 8-track tape? I don’t have a crystal ball, so I don’t know the answer, but I can look to past trends.

In the mid-nineties, when Napster exploded on the scene, the RIAA was quick to start suing everybody and their dog (no, literally, dogs were sued).  What the RIAA failed to notice was that during the heyday of Napster, CD sales went up. That’s right. Free songs on the internet, and CD sales go up.

Musicians sat up, took notice, and started connecting straight with fans. The RIAA didn’t. They continued to sue, spending millions of dollars and seeing  no return on their investment. They could have embraced a new model, found new revenue streams (beat iTunes to the punch), and endeared themselves to their fans.  They did none of these things–epic fail.

We can’t be certain, but there is a very good chance that e-books are going to do the same thing Napster did–drive p-book sales, not cut into them.  I’m seeing reports that this is already happening.  From the article:

For now, Makinson says, digital books are expanding the market; hardback sales in the US are up this year, despite the march of ebooks. Piracy is not yet a significant issue and lessons have been learned from the music business.” 

I’ve said it before, and I’m seeing no reason to think otherwise–it’s a great time to be an author.