It’s been 10 years since e-books could be taken on the go because of the ingenious design of handheld Kindle e-readers. By the time Amazon released the Kindle, the catalog of books users could chase down was much smaller. In fact, many traditional publishers have held back from releasing some of their bestsellers in digital format until they can no longer ignore public demand.
If you are registered at Rutger Online and have a concentration in online information masters, then you likely use a Kindle or similar e-reader device for school. Here’s what happened in the history of Kindle devices and what e-book readers can expect in the future.
Popularity of E-Books
They’re not as popular as they were 10 years ago, but people have been reading e-books for quite a while. In the beginning, almost all e-books were released as PDFs, which meant that you had to have a PDF reader on your computer.
By the way, there’s no way to read a book on your phone or continue reading a book on your laptop unless you’ve downloaded it to your hard drive or have a Wi-Fi connection.
Because having hard copies of books is still more convenient than reading books digitally, people don’t understand how power on will work at that time. Now, there’s Kindle Unlimited, which allows Kindle owners to read millions of different books on demand.
Whether you need to find a textbook to help supplement your library science degree or just want to read poetry in your spare time, e-book readers are usually the preferred tool for avid readers.
Independent Publisher
About 10 years ago, if you were a writer and you didn’t have a deal with a major publisher, very few people would read your work. Independent writer have to pay to have their book printed, then they have the tough job of getting people to buy their unknown work.
Today, there are tons of independent authors on the Amazon Direct Publishing platform, writing what they love and releasing their books to loyal fans. Not all authors who release e-books are popular, but they all have the option of getting their work out in public thanks to the popularity of e-readers.
Self-publishing on Amazon it’s simple and anyone with a good idea and a decent book can sign up for it.
Most Popular Book Formats
If you order a recently released book and you choose the e-book format, then you can receive a copy instantly. Paperback books are still selling well, but they haven’t kept pace with the popularity of e-books. Consumers want what they want, and they want it now. If anything, they will order ebooks to read now and grab a physical copy for a friend or relative later.
The authors you know and love who top the USA Today Best Seller List put out their latest novel in e-book format, and they make about as much money from their digital release as their paperback sales.
Now that 10 years have passed since the Kindles hit the market, it would seem clear that e-books are here to stay eventually. You can still read novels and easily find trashy romance novels at the supermarket checkout. Instead of causing books to become obsolete, e-readers seem to have boosted the market.
