Economic perspective/value

Questions

1. Sharing of value and information how is this done by books?
2. How do books (or knowledge) offer power to readers?
3. Price difference of books around the world?
4. How much influence do books and perspective have on the economy of countries?
5. How many copies are sold of a book in average book?

Discussion

Sharing of value and information how is this done by books?

How do books (or knowledge) offer power to readers?

Price difference of books around the world?

Average book prices in the US as of 2002

• Adult hardcover book $27.52
• Adult fiction $25.05
• Adult non-fiction $28.60
• Adult paperbacks $15.77
• Adult mass market $7.30
• Juvenile hardcover book $15.93
• University press hardcover $51.09

Price wars in the UK

Independent bookshops are complaining about the fact that large supermarkets are selling books at a discount because they are bulk buyers. Eventually this would lead to:

• Independent bookshops would disappear
• Only a limited range of books would be available

Price differents on the UK market for 2006

For example the non-fiction paperback, Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?

At Oldfield Park Bookshop in Bath, for instance, it is on sale at its recommended retail price of £7.99. At Foyles it can be bought for £5.99, and at the Peak Bookshop in Chesterfield for £4.39. Meanwhile, outside the independent sector there are greater savings at Amazon £3.99 and Tesco £3.89.

How much influence do books and perspective have on the economy of countries?

How many copies are sold of a book in average book?

Books

• 4,500Median* number of copies sold of the first book that an author wrote where the author did not use a book publicity or marketing service
• 5,000 Median number of copies sold of the first book an author wrote where the author did not use a book agent
• 10,000 Median number of copies sold of the the first book an author wrote where the author did use a book publicity or marketing service
• 12,000 Median number of copies sold of the first book an author wrote where the author did use a book agent

eBooks

References

• More Books, More Publishers, Higher Prices, Publishers weekly, june 2, 2003
• Trish Groves, Information sharing: getting journals and books to developing countries
• Price wars come at a cost
• How many copies do business books sell?
• December Bookstore Sales Disappointing
• Industry eBook Sales Statistics 2005
• Book publishing industry net sales totalled $25.1 billion in 2005