PRIMIR Books Study Points to Morphing Industry Model
• Paper books and their key selling outlet, book stores, may have reached the pinnacle of their product life cycle and will emerge from the forecast period on the downside slope of the cycle.
Unlike most other print media, books are a stand-alone product that does not depend upon advertising, or function as a part of a support mechanism for other products. Since the early 90s, U.S. book publishing net unit sales volume has been relatively flat with most ups and downs moderately reflecting fluctuations in the general economy. Industry sales have been buoyed up by blockbuster hits that sell hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of copies. More limited but steadily growing volume in recent years has come from the small publishers who rarely sell more than 10,000 copies of a title. But the study questions the viability of many of these small publishers as they are challenged by the economic downturn.