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As the above video reports, this Wall Street Journal Life & Culture (@WSJLife) article focuses on the amount of information about readers that booksellers and their e-readers are now able to glean through ebook technology.

It takes the average reader just seven hours to read the final book in Suzanne Collins's "Hunger Games" trilogy on the Kobo e-reader — about 57 pages an hour. Nearly 18,000 Kindle readers have highlighted the same line from the second book in the series: "Because sometimes things happen to people and they're not equipped to deal with them." And on Barnes & Noble's Nook, the first thing that most readers do upon finishing the first "Hunger Games" book is to download the next one.

In the past, publishers and authors had no way of knowing what happens when a reader sits down with a book. Does the reader quit after three pages, or finish it in a single sitting? Do most readers skip over the introduction, or read it closely, underlining passages and scrawling notes in the margins? Now, ebooks are providing a glimpse into the story behind the sales figures, revealing not only how many people buy particular books, but how intensely they read them.

Read this in full.

Bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld) editorial director Jeremy Greenfield (@JDGsaid) says, “Publishers worried that readers who borrow ebooks from libraries don’t buy books can put those worries to rest."

According to a new study from the The Pew Research Center's (@PewResearch) Internet & American Life Project (@pewinternet), those who borrow ebooks from libraries also purchase ebooks. When ebook borrowers were asked by Pew how they acquired the last ebook they read, 41% said they bought it.

Read this in full.

“Ebook borrowers are book lovers,” says Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet project. “They the heaviest book-reading cohort of the ones we measured. They are more into books than even ebook readers, the larger group they fall into.”

Findings from the study:

·         12% of readers of ebooks borrowed an ebook from the library in the past year.

·         But 58% of all library card holders say they don’t know if their library provides ebook lending services.

·         55% of all those who say the library is “very important” to them say they don’t know if their library lends ebooks.

·         53% of all tablet computer owners say they don’t know if their library lends ebooks.

·         48% of all owners of ebook reading devices such as original Kindles and NOOKs say they don’t know if their library lends ebooks.

·         47% of all those who read an ebook in the past year say they don’t know if their library lends ebooks.

·         E-book borrowers appreciate the selection of ebooks at their local library, but they often encounter wait lists, unavailable titles, or incompatible file formats.

·         Many Americans would like to learn more about borrowing ebooks.

·         58% of Americans have a library card, and 69% say their local library is important to them and their family.

·         Leading-edge librarians and patrons say the advent of ebooks has produced a major transformation in book searching and borrowing at libraries.

Read the study, Libraries, Patrons, and Ebooks, in full.

In his blogpost, “Does Pew study prove ebooks in libraries are safe for publishers?,” Mike Shatzkin (@MikeShatzkin) says, “The latest Pew ebook study seems to me to confirm that the publishers are doing the right thing for sales by constricting the availability of many of the most attractive books from library shelves.”

Read this in full.

Also see PBS’ MediaShift (@PBSMediaShift), “What Is the Role of Libraries in the Age of Ebooks and Digital Information?” and FOX News’ (@FoxNews) article, “How to borrow Ebooks from the library.”

Also see our previous blogposts, “Ebooks Projected to Comprise 50% of US Trade Book Market By 2016” and “Extensive New Study: The Rise of E-reading.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market your brand’s content in pbooks and ebooks.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

In a column for BBC Business (@BBCBusiness), Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) CEO Muhtar Kent cites 5 global mega-trends from a Consumer Goods Forum report on the "Future Value Chain," and stresses how fundamentally important they are to the future of retail and consumer goods.

2020 Future Value Chain Webcast Presentation

1.    Mass Urbanization. The proportion of people living in cities has now surpassed 50% worldwide, and should reach 70% by 2050, necessitating new supply chain and logistical models.

2.    We're Getting Older. By 2047, the number of individuals over 60 years of age will be higher than those under 15 years of age, a shift presenting substantial possibilities for suitably adaptive organizations.

3.    The Middle Class Cometh. The world is experiencing the greatest economic shift in history as the global middle class grows by another billion people in the next 10 years. By 2030, over 90% of this audience are set to reside in emerging nations, compared with 50% today.

4.    Consumers in the Driving Seat. Evolving technologies are transforming customers’ expectations and ability to influence companies. By 2013, for example, there will be 2 billion mobile users, while a third of purchases are due to be completed online by 2020. Among the requirements on companies will be finding the right channels through which to converse with shoppers, alongside leveraging big data and embracing collaboration.

5.    What About the Planet? Sustainability will assume heightened importance. By 2030, the global population should hit 8.3 billion, while the demand for food and energy is anticipated to leap by 50%, an acceleration standing at 30% for fresh water.

Read this in full.

Coca-Cola also shares it’s branding vision:

How do the above mega-trends impact your publishing plans? Write your comments below.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you identify and maximize trends impacting your brand’s message.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

MarketingVox (@marketingvox) reports, “The 74 million estimated tablet users in the USA are not just playing around online. Half are getting weather information, more than a third are getting national news, and just under a third read newspaper and magazine content.”

The Online Publishers Association (@OPA_PamHoran) collaborated with Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. to evaluate attitudes and behaviors of media and entertainment consumers. The OPA surveyed 2,540 Internet users between the ages of 8 and 64 for a one-week period (March 19 through March 26, 2012) and released the results in its report A Portrait of Today's Tablet User – Wave II.

·         94% of tablet users access content and information weekly (41% consume local news, 37% consume national news)

·         72% of tablet owners have paid for apps

·         67% go online

·         66% check email

·         54% watch video

·         53% access social networks

·         39% of readers have bought a single issue or digital subscription for their tablets

·         35% have bought an ebook

·         15% have bought a digital newspaper subscription

Read this in full at:

·         Tablet Users Want Content & Information Over Fun & Games

·         OPA: What Content Do Tablet Owners Buy?

·         A Portrait of Today’s Tablet User, Part I of III: Introduction & Overall Tablet Audience

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market content for tablet users.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

The above Infographic (enlarge it) is by MDG Advertising (@MDGadvertising).

Also see research statistics in the Adweek (@adweek) article: “Mobile users aren’t abandoning print any faster than non-mobile users.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to plan and execute the mobile strategy for your brand.

And bookmark and use daily our SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

</object><p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #808080; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 500px;">Watch Digital Nation on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.</p>

In our Internet era, publishing houses are having to reinvent themselves as technology companies in order to adapt their business models and remain viable. But when does technology cease to be a value-add to the consumer experience?

“Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier,” a documentary that aired on PBS’ (@PBS) Frontline (@frontlinepbs) program, asks the question, “Is our 24/7 wired world causing us to lose as much as we've gained?”

Within a single generation, digital media and the World Wide Web have transformed virtually every aspect of modern culture, from the way we learn and work to the ways in which we socialize and even conduct war. But is the technology moving faster than we can adapt to it?

This video explores what it means to be human in a 21st-century digital world. It seeks to understand the implications of living in a world consumed by technology and the impact that this constant connectivity may have on future generations. "I'm amazed at the things my kids are able to do online, but I'm also a little bit panicked when I realize that no one seems to know where all this technology is taking us, or its long-term effects," says producer Rachel Dretzin.

Read and see this in full.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you leverage technology to effectively communicate your brand’s message.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

GalleyCat (@GalleyCat) reports that net sales revenue from ebooks have now surpassed hardcover books in the first quarter of 2012.

According to the Association of American Publishers’ (@AmericanPublish) March net sales revenue report (collecting data from 1,189 publishers), adult ebook sales were $282.3 million while adult hardcover sales counted $229.6 million during the 1st quarter of 2012. During the same period last year, hardcover accounted for $335 million in sales while ebooks logged $220.4 million.

Here’s more from the report (Q1 2012 chart embedded above): “While ebooks continue to show growth, downloaded audiobooks also keep accelerating vs last year – as some experts have said, tied to ongoing popularity and acquisition of smartphones and mobile devices.”

Read this in full.

Also see our previous blogposts, “Ebooks Projected to Comprise 50% of US Trade Book Market By 2016,” “Extensive New Study: The Rise of E-reading,” and others about ebooks.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish your content as pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Publishers Weekly coverage of the just-concluded BEA (@BookExpoAmerica) includes the following: According to Bowker’s (@Bowker & @DiscoverBowker) newest figures of books produced, last year there were 211,269 self-published titles (based on ISBNs) released, up from 133,036 in 2010.

Vice president for Bowker Market Research Kelly Gallagher reports more statistics:

·         The most popular genre in terms of units is fiction (45%), but nonfiction leads in sales (38%)

·         The average price for a self-published fiction book is $6.94, while nonfiction titles command $19.32

·         While ebooks accounted for 41% of self-published units, they only accounted for 11% of sales because the average self-published ebook sold for $3.18, while trade paperbacks had an average price of $12.68 and hardcovers averaged $14.40.

·         Amazon’s CreateSpace (@CreateSpace) was the largest player in the self-publishing space last year, publishing 57,602 titles; Author Solutions' (@authorsolutions) various imprints did 41,605 books.

Gallagher also says Bowker is developing a self-publishing White Paper, and is creating a self-publishing bestsellers list.

In Bowker’s annual report on US print book publishing for 2011 (compiled from its Books In Print® database), preliminary figures from US publishers lead Bowker to estimate that traditional print book output grew 6% in 2011, from 328,259 titles in 2010 to a projected 347,178 in 2011 (that's 951 books published every day), driven almost exclusively by a strong self-publishing market. Bowker says this is the most significant expansion in more than 4 years for America’s traditional publishing sector; but removing self-publishing from the equation would show that the market is relatively flat from 2010.

“Transformation of our industry has brought on a time of rich innovation in the publishing models we now have today. What was once relegated to the outskirts of our industry — and even took on demeaning names like ‘vanity press’ — is now not only a viable alternative but what is driving the title growth of our industry today,” says Gallagher. “From that standpoint, self-publishing is a true legitimate power to be reckoned with. Coupled with the explosive growth of ebooks and digital content – these two forces are moving the industry in dramatic ways.”

Genres that contributed to the robust growth in the Traditional sector include:

·         Education, with a hefty 20% increase

·         Music (up 14%)

·         Philosophy & Psychology (up 14%)

·         Religion (up 12%)

·         Juveniles (up 11%

·         Biography (up 11%)

·         Business (up 11%).

·         Publishing mainstay Fiction – the largest genre – turned around a multi-year decline with a notable 13% increase.

Read the news release.

And according to a report by the Association of American Publishers (@AmericanPublish), US publishers in the Trade sector saw significant sales increases worldwide in both print and e-format English-language books in 2011.  

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you manage your content creation.

Be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Publishers tab, which includes links to self-publishing publishers.

New data from Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ (@PwC_LLP & @pwc_press) Global Entertainment and Media Outlook predicts ebooks will constitute 50% of the US trade book market by 2016.

Reporter Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) writes in paidContent (@paidContent) that PwC expects total book spending in North America to remain relatively flat; “1.1% compound annual rate” of increase between 2011 and 2016.

PwC thinks that while total spending on print trade books will decline, the ebook market will be growing fast enough by 2013 to offset those declines. In the US, the company estimates that “around 30% of adults had at least one portable reading device [an e-reader or tablet] in the first quarter of 2012.”

By 2016, PwC expects, “ebooks will account for half of total spending on consumer books” in the US and the total US consumer book market (print + digital) will be worth $21 billion, up from $19.5 billion in 2011.

Read this in full.

According to PwC’s blog, the E&M Outlook says 3 behavioral changes are driving global shifts in industry structure and value:

1.    From print to digital: Electronic books’ share of total global spending on consumer and educational books will rise from 5% in 2011 to 18% by 2016.

2.    From fixed to mobile consumption: Global mobile Internet access increased from 26% of total Internet access spending in 2007 to 40% in 2011 – and will grow to 46% by 2016.

3.    From West to East, and North to South: Total revenue growth to 2016 in Central and Eastern Europe/Asia Pacific will be almost double that of North America/Western Europe. And growth in the southern Latin America/Middle East/Africa market will average more than twice that of North America/Europe by 2016.

Read the news release.

In the video below, Marcel Fenez, Global Leader, Entertainment & Media at PwC, explains how PwC sees this time period as being “the end of the digital beginning.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you take advantage of publishing’s digital growth for your content.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Digital Book World’s (@DigiBookWorld) editorial director, Jeremy Greenfield (@JDGsaid) says, “For the first time ever, more than half of Americans 65 and older are on the Internet, according to a new report — and this could mean a whole new growing market for ebook publishers and retailers.”

According to the study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project (@pewinternet), 53% of American adults age 65 or older use the Internet or email, up from about 40% less than a year ago. By comparison, 82% of all adults say they use the Internet or email at least occasionally.

Readers in that age group are among the most prolific book buyers, according to the Codex Group, a New York-based book-focused research firm. Book buyers 65 and older buy more books a month than those in the 18-to-24, 25-to-34, and 35-to-44 age groups. Book-buying peaks in the 45-to-54 and 55-to-64 age groups and drops off at 65 and up, possibly due to less disposable income to spend on books.

...“Seniors that read ebooks like the ability to change the type size and appreciate that they can get them at home without having to leave,” says Pew research specialist and report co-author Kathryn Zickuhr (@kzickuhr), referring to an upcoming study from Pew that will discuss libraries and ebooks, and contains feedback from older adults on how they got started reading ebooks and what they like and don’t like about them.

Read this in full.

Read the Pew report in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you effectively communicate your brand’s content in this digital age.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.