Consumer book sales revenue in the U.S. 2008-2018, by platform
E-books in the United States – additional information
In a survey among authors and publishers in May 2014, the following question was asked; How would you rate the quality of most e-books you have read? Only 7.91 percent of respondents stated the felt the quality of e-books was excellent and a further 31.63 percent of respondents stated that the quality was okay. These results suggest that there are some improvements to be made in the industry in order to secure its popularity in the future.
A cheaper alternative to purchasing a book, in any format, is of course to borrow the book from a local library where the choices are endless. In the recent past, libraries have become aware of the need to cater to the e-reader community. In a survey of over 500 public libraries in the U.S. between April and July 2014, respondents were asked if their library offered e-books. An overwhelming majority of 95 percent stated that they did.
However, when it came to the book consumption per capita in the U.S. in March 2014, by format, e-books were still trailing behind. In a survey of those aged 18 and over, 46 percent of respondents stated that they only read hard books compared to six percent of respondents who stated that they only read e-books. This reveals that in early 2014 that the traditional paper book was still the more appealing format to readers.