Is The Kindle Market Facing A Downturn.

I didn't think it was quite a "downturn" yet, to be pedantic?

But throughout the publishing and bookselling world, a huge debate is certainly opening up and being reinforced on the hugely decreasing growth rate of Kindle sales (especially after this recent Christmas sales were such a disappointment), while trade publishing - as you mention - is certainly now increasing at a faster rate than has been seen for some years.

It probably always had some kind of "maximum penetration level" (or nearly - I'm using the expression a little loosely, perhaps ) and it's very nearly reached it, now.

Technically, it may perhaps continue to expand a little, as populations grow and economies strengthen ... albeit not at nearly the same rate as trade publishing?

Yes indeed. This has been the case for a little while, now, and the most recent figures, widely commented on in the trade, confirm it.

I haven't seen that. Yet. But your information is probably just slightly more up-to-date than mine.

There have also been quite a lot of new psychology/neurophysiology research findings published, over the last year or so, related to "digital reading", which have had rather a negative effect on the "digital books world" and predicate a dampening down of some of the recent years' enthusiasm about digital publishing. I've seen these discussed, increasingly, in recent months, in a few scientific and other journals, and they're now starting to spill over into the mass print-media, too: I see even newspapers openly discussing whether routinely reading ebooks rather than physical ones is "good/suitable/helpful for you". There's certainly a lot of negativity about, at the moment, in some section of the media, around "digital books". It's even reached - in some places - a "metadiscussion" level in which the media are commenting about "digital book negativity in the media".


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Personally I prefer physical books to digital versions. Physical Books have come down in price, especially for people like me living down-under where everything usually costs 2-3 times more.

-Chris

I know a lot of authors were complaining that their book sales had
taken a dive after Amazon introduced its Kindle Unlimited program
for $9.99 per month. I don't know if this program is wholly to blame
for the decrease. The downside of self-publishing becoming so much
easier and available is that quality has dropped. Of course Amazon
tried ti reign this in with the PLR banning, but time will tell as the market
settles.

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014...lass-citizens/

-Ray Edwards

I'm spending a hundred bucks a month on Kindle books so it doesn't look like a downturn to me!

Bonnie

Nope, no down turn from where I'm sitting. Many of the research firms that I follow are still showing that ebooks sales are on the rise and that there is no sign that paper back books are making any kind of comeback.

I've only been a Kindle author for about a year and my sales continue to go up, but that's because I invested in some awesome training and I follow what my coach tells me to do.

For example, I changed the cover on one of my books, just the cover, and sales increased by over 70% and it still continues to sell well. I also ran a promotion for another ebook (which I just decided I'm going to turn into a series) and that bumped up my sales.

RoD

I prefer reading physical books to digital books if everything else was equal.

It is far easier to me to carry my Kindle device than to carry separate books when I travel, which is a big one for me. I also like the fact if I buy a Kindle book I get the book right away verses having to wait for two days. Lastly Kindle books are almost always cheaper.

For these reasons I still prefer a Kindle book over a physical book.

I own a kindle and they now have an offer where they lend you books for a monthly fee... so I guess that's what's up...

Elephants stop growing eventually as well, but they're still enormous when they do. I don't think the Kindle market offers any less potential now for people willing to stick at it and put in the work to cater to it than it's ever done. People with stories to tell (or in the case of non-fiction, information and methods to relate). People who know how to tell their stories, know how to package them and know how to use a bunch of related stories to promote each other. Each story is like a brick - on it's own it's not going to be worth much to the writer, but propping others up it becomes more valuable, whether you're building a bus shelter or building a mansion. If you know how to put your bricks together, you've got an asset.

The Kindle market has undoubtedly lost it's gloss in some quarters though - for people who thought that one 'brick' would be enough, people who thought that a few bricks placed miles apart would build something of lasting value, people who ran out of bricks or thought that any old brick will do. People who wrote one book and sat back expecting riches to roll in, who assumed that the same readers of their romantic fiction short would rush to read their space fiction, or whose brains refused to squeeze out one more sexy, unattached billionaire but couldn't come up with anything else, and people who thought that slapping a cover on PLR or public domain works would see them rubbing shoulders with Stephen King.

There were lots of these people throwing themselves into the fray when the potential of the Kindle Market first showed up on the IM radar, and Amazon didn't seem to see the worst of them coming so it probably was easier in the beginning for some to turn in a few quid by doing very little. Then Amazon moved to protect their reputation by clamping down on PLR and getting picky over 'fake' reviews and suddenly there were scads of 'authors' adding volume to the claim that the bubble had burst.

And in IM circles, maybe it had. The emphasis in Internet Marketing is on getting eyeballs on products and persuading people to buy them - there's never been a requirement to create the products, and for many it was turning out to be more effort than they were willing to put in.

Meanwhile, those who saw publishing as a fantastic business opportunity and were slowly beginning to prosper by quietly building genuine assets were facing problems too - Amazon changing their exposure algorithms, chucking Kindle Unlimited into the mix etc, but as business people they've been able to adapt by changing prices, repackaging their titles and drawing on their own data to determine whether participation in KU is worth it for their particular business model and so they stand a good chance of riding out any downturn in sales.

I admit that I haven't seen any stats indicating a dramatic downturn in the growth of e-book sales, but what I have noticed (couldn't fail to see, really!) is Amazon's determination to be the 'go to' place for readers keen to pay for e-books. They can't put their readers first if there are no authors willing to write for pennies and they'll be adapting too. KU is probably a profitable machine for Amazon right now and it's still profiting many writers, but the minute it becomes unprofitable enough for the majority of authors to jump ship it will either take on a different form or be abandoned in favour of something else. The number of readers won't change and Amazon wants them badly. As long as no one is trying to game the system and is producing books that people want to read, they badly need their independent authors too.

Though ebook is much more cheaper than paper book. But some people still pursue the texture of paper, just like me. While, I don't think the trend will be reversed.

For all the people who are true marketers (folks who can sell virtually anything at any time....), their digital product sales are still good. If a Kindle author wants more sales for their Kindle book... tell them to start an email list, and promote the Kindle link where their ebook is being sold on. Or, you can make it easier in life for yourself (PLUS you get the customer name and info).... sell your ebook on your own site, and start a list, and drive folks to your website link where your ebook is being promoted at. Stats like a "Kindle downturn" doesn't mean much to me. Relative really.

I don't publish on Kindle myself, but as an avid ebook lover and a technology enthusiast, I don't see any downturn in digital publishing. Digital publishing is here to stay. It isn't going anywhere. A matter of fact, it will only grow as years go by.

Paper products such as paper books will eventually go out of print much like vinal records did not too long ago. Sure you can still find vinal records and some artists are producing them, but for the masses, electronic means of entertainment still persist and always will, and the same can be said for books as well.

Sure there will be paper versions of books, but eventually the bookstores in the malls will end up closing shop. It is just a matter of time before that happens. Look at the music stores that used to be inside our malls. They went by the wayside because of digital music and other forms of digital media.

Just as there are no DVD rental places, soon places like Sun Coast which is a place that sells DVD movies will also go by the wayside due to the high demand of streaming media and the fact that now movies can be downloaded.

Just give it time and you will see paper books not selling too well in the not too distant future.

Here are some interesting articles:

Readers absorb less on Kindles than on paper, study finds | Books | The Guardian

Science Has Great News for People Who Read Actual Books - Mic

Your paper brain and your Kindle brain aren't the same thing | Public Radio International

I've never seen a Kindle and I don't read much for paper books either any more...so what do I know?

I think the market is being saturated, Jump on KDP Select for ebooks and chances are, there are thousands and thousands of ebooks on there doing everything "The right way". Its tough to compete, get reviews, fill out forms to have this done, that done and a lot of time involved just to make $2.00 a sale. People finding out what niches work and are out ranking your book.

I do have another way of making money other than kindle and I make much more ($20-$300+ profit per sale) but I can't do the volume that I want and it's not consistent enough as I'd like which is why I still feel like I have to work for a living, Money comes in spurts for me from my other business.

I totally agree. For example, a book getting twenty downloads per day, barely gets two now. Remember that most people who buy a 99 cent e-book never get around to actually reading it, but those days are over. People can download it read one page or none.... you get paid zero. All the profits go to amazon.

Nothing will last forever. Things dry up. You must always be up on what's to come and jump on it like prey in the wild. Do so before the rest of the pack comes flocking!

My wife only reads via her Kindle reader, and all I read are physical books.

As far as someone mentioning he prefers physical but opts for kindle because he doesnt have to wait 2 days for his kindle version, order the books you want to read in advance so you never run out and never wait

I basically keep a queue of books.

Actually running low so if any avid business/personal growth book readers have any suggestions, please do share with me here (or via pm to maintain the integrity of this thread )