As part of one of my final assignments at university we have to create an e-cookbook. Ebooks are complex because most people have read one in their life and at one point they were believed to be taking over the desire for print books. 

 There was a survey in 2015 which declared over half of Americans have an e-reader of some kind. And with the constant increase in smartphones most people now have access to ebooks almost immediately. Ebooks tend to be cheaper as publishers don’t have to spend more money on creating and printing and shipping/distributing a book. Another great positive of an ebook is that the reader can customise the text so that it is readable for them. Those with dyslexia can change the background colour or increase the spacing between lines and words. Ebooks are certainly more accessible so why are print books still popular?

 Lots of people outside the publishing industry were surprised when physical books began to increase in popularity again, I don’t think there is necessarily a clear reason why! For me as an avid reader it never made sense that physical books would stop being the norm. They are my preferred way to read and I buy a lot of them a year… so for me it is the joy and love of ‘books’ that keeps me buying physical copies. 

 There is also an ascetic and consumerist view if you look at platforms like Instagram where the bookstagram community is dedicated to sharing books with pretty covers, and many would say ‘bragging about how many books you own. This is a very on the surface view and doesn’t take into consideration the amount of those who may also read ebooks or rent books from the library. 

 Publishing like any industry is constantly having to adapt to new trends. At the moment its biggest ‘threat’ is the podcast. This was on the rise even before lockdown but thanks to the increase in people taking daily walks they have skyrocketed with many asking what podcasts are people listening to over what songs are on their playlist. Publishers are pushing audiobooks now more than ever! Or looking at it differently, they are giving book deals to those with popular podcasts. A great example is comedian Chris Ramsey and his wife Rosie, they have a very well loved podcast and a best selling book featuring similar stories to those they discuss on their podcast. 

 If you want to read more about the publishing industry and podcasts click here

What about you? Do you have a preference?