Title: Physical books still outsell e-books — and here's why
Headings: Physical books still outsell e-books — and here’s why
Physical books still outsell e-books — and here’s why
Content: It’s partly the political landscape, people are looking for escape, but they are also looking for information. So, they are coming to print for a whole, quite a complex mess of reasons and I think … it’s harder to have an emotional relationship with what you’re reading if it’s on an e-reader.” @asi.utsy | Twenty20
While millennials are sometimes blamed for killing industries, it’s actually younger people who appear to be popularizing print. Sixty-three percent of physical book sales in the U.K. are to people under the age of 44, while 52% of e-book sales are to those over 45, according to Nielsen. It’s a similar picture in the U.S., where 75% of people aged 18 to 29 claimed to have read a physical book in 2017, higher than the average of 67%, according to Pew Research. Not every author is a fan of e-books: “ The Catcher in the Rye” author JD Salinger famously resisted digital media and information sharing online, but in August his estate agreed to publish his work as e-books for the first time. Salinger’s son Matt said a letter from a woman with a hand-related disability who found physical books hard to handle had convinced him to make his books available, according to a report in the Guardian. As for the future of books, all formats will continue to be in demand, according to Jacks Thomas, director of The London Book Fair. “ People always need knowledge and people always need stories, so from that point of view, the very core of the book industry I am sure is very strong.