Book Industry Profile

Key Trends and Facts:

• The US is the largest publisher and consumer of books in the world.  About 150,000 new books are published in the US every year; most of them are low-volume products.
• Demand for books in the US rose 2.8% annually between 2003 and 2008 to $36.5 billion.  Sales of e-books in the US are growing rapidly.
• Book exports rose 6.1% per year from 2003 to $2.6 billion in 2008.  41% of these exports were to Canada.
• Large book sellers, such as Barnes & Noble, are increasingly gaining publishing and distribution rights.

Opportunities:

• Publishers are building online communities around authors and genres to strengthen relationships with readers.  This is expected to create new revenue streams.
• Audio books on CD-ROM and tapes are a growing market.  Publishers sell about $1 billion worth of books in this format.  This is further expected to rise.

Challenges:

• The greater availability of books in the electronic format has led to a rise in the piracy of books.