Year after year digital It is gaining ground and, in any field, there is already a relevant percentage in this format. Passing pages palpating your lyrics is not the only way to read a book, now it is also enough to slide your finger or have headphones. According to the latest report by the Bookwire Digital Distributor, Ebook sales They have increased a 8,6% and the billing of audiobook a 45,7% With respect to 2022.
Bookwire’s general manager, Mariana Féged, stands out Global consumer that there is still “quite fear” and “ignorance” by the sector. “There are writers who prefer not to join a digital version or make an audio version,” says Fé: On the other hand, he informs that, despite the growth data, The traditional paper book It will continue to be the main percentage of billing.
–The ebook sale has grown in Spain by 8.6% and the audiobook has shot 45.7%. What are the best selling?
– Our biggest client is the planet group, which heads that list of top sellers. Although I could not say a title, The digital book market is traced to paper. That is, if Julia Navarro’s books are bestseller On paper they are also digital. It is another format, but always the behavior is the same.
– Between the best selling, are most free electronic books?
– No not at all. The average price is around 7 euros. In fact, the strip where titles are sold most is between 5 and 7.99 euros.
– Despite that the sale of ebooks and audiobooks has grown in the Spanish market, is the figure light years of sales of the traditional book?
– Yes, clearly. It is still the vast majority in Spain. There are markets, for example, such as England where 20-25% of total book sales are made in digital, while In Spain it approaches 9-10%that is, still 90% of books sold are paper.
– Do you think, in the long term, the digital format will exceed the paper format? Would it replace it?
– For many years, at first, when the digital book began about 15 years, it was very speculated that I was going to unseat the paper, but we have seen no. They are formats that coexist, In fact, neither cannibalizes him, nor will he replace him at any time. The paper will continue to be the main percentage of billing and the digital will accompany.
– Peers who have tried the ebook ensure that they would not return to the role for the comfort of the digital.
– It is much more comfortable and in Spain there are some Subscription models where a fee is paid per month and you can read everything you want. People who read a lot who benefit from this and become very addicted to digital format. However, there is a huge part of the population that reads and prefers to go to a bookstore and buy it. The presence of bookstores still fulfills a very important role in the dissemination of the book.
– Why is the audiobook the digital format with the greatest potential?
– Audiobro is more recent. The growth of the audiobook year after year is more than 50%. Every year the growth is brutal because we are in A stage still of great growth. The curve is superxponenial at this time. The audiobook does are a slightly different type of consumption.
– Why is it different?
– I think it has a very interesting potential, especially for the channels in which it is present, such as the Spanish -speaking market, where there is a podcast consumption, and that this format has also attracted people who traditionally did not read. Surely Spotify here will have a very relevant rolebecause he is beginning to offer audiobooks.
– What are the most prone to digital genres?
– In the ebook there are genres like The romantic They work wonderfully, precisely because the romantic reader is an inveterate reader who reads many titles a year. Everything that is contemporary narrative and thriller also work very well in ebook. In non-fiction self-help is the dominant genre.
– And in the audiobook?
– It is interesting to see the difference in the audiobook. What is as more traditional or even literary fiction are the ones that work best. Here non-fiction is much more minority, people prefer to listen to stories, that is, fiction.
– Are there authors or authors who have refused to make your book available in digital format?
– There are desafortunately cases. There is still enough fear and ignorance on the part of the sector. There are writers who believe that you will cannibalize your paper sales or can represent less paper sale and prefers not to join a digital version or make an audio version. In addition, the production of an audiobook is expensive since it implies a narrator. Some publishers refuse, then They consider it an economic risk.
–In the audiobook, will artificial intelligence be used to save the cost of narrators?
–That’s a great debate today. The big technological platforms such as Google have their own text to voice that mimics a human voice. This will end up being a technology that will be used a lot, however, today The quality of that production is not enough As if it really is a product that can be sold. We are close, technology has improved a lot, but we are not there yet.
– If the audiobook requires a greater investment, does that mean that the price is much higher than that of a paper book?
– No older, but it is not cheap. What happens is that in Spain we have several subscription models. More than 70% of the consumption made of audiobook is made through subscription models, that is, people do not pay a unit price, Pay a monthly fee and with that monthly fee you can hear how many audiobooks you want. Precisely as prices are high, because the way of consuming them is through subscription.
– And in the digital book?
–In the digital book, 23% use a subscription model in which a monthly fee is paid and 11% is through libraries. Public libraries have access services to Ebook. What we see is that in recent years the subscription is gaining share, the libraries are gaining share and what is unitary sale is losing quota. People are increasingly interested in Pay a fee or go to the library and be able to consume the titles and not to pay a unit price for it.
– What is the profile of an audiobook reader and a digital book?
–There are two types of people among those who consume the audiobooks. One is the very fan of an author or an editorial, who follows everything he publishes and wants to consume all kinds of formats. Then there is another audience that normally does not read much, but enjoy listening to stories, listening to podcast, listening to fiction in sound format, but it would not necessarily be someone who would enter the bookstore and buy a book.
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