Bloomsbury sees ebook sales surge by 70pc in market shift
EBOOK sales have jumped by 70 per cent at Bloomsbury, the publishing house announced yesterday, as the company heralded a “seismic shift” in publishing.
The rapid rise in year-on-year digital sales for the three months to June means that the publisher now sells more ebooks than hardback editions in America.
Print sales fell by two per cent compared to last year, but were easily offset by digital market growth.
Chief executive Nigel Newton said that ebook sales have continued to grow “at a rapid rate” and that Bloomsbury was “well placed to take advantage of this seismic shift” in the book industry.
The Harry Potter publisher said digital sales of children’s and young adult books were now growing faster than those of adult ebooks.
Bloomsbury was quick to enter the digital market, having converted much of its catalogue to ebook form several years ago.
Total ebook sales increased by 54 per cent in the UK last year, and now make up eight per cent of the total book market, driven by the popularity of e-readers such as Amazon’s Kindle device.