From: www.goodreads.com/blog

Ebooks on the rise in 2011: Goodreads data supports Amazons recent statement
posted by Otis on May 22, 2011

Amazon released a big milestone on Thursday by saying:

We decided to see if we could mine our own data and find a similar trend. After analysing 19 million books people have marked as finished on Goodreads over the past three years and the 22 thousand books members currently mark as as finished each day, we found some pretty explosive looking ebook growth:

The number of people who are reading ebooks in 2011 went up 163% over last year, and 36% up over the 4 months prior to 2011. This kind of growth is exciting and disruptive, and signifies that the publishing industry, which hasn’t really changed in hundreds of years, is changing rapidly right before our eyes.

We should note that the numbers in the graph are probably actually higher, as not all members pay close attention to the format they catalog, and the hardcover edition is often the default. The trend however, is pretty clear.

Our data may confirm Amazon’s trend report, but there are a few caveats that are important to keep in mind before we start declaring print is dead. Book readers buy books in all kinds of places, not just on Amazon. Recent news shows that the major publishers are seeing about 20% of their sales from ebooks. Recent internal surveys we have run show that people are still buying plenty of books from local bookstores and borrowing lots of books from the library.

Let’s look at the Amazon data versus Goodreads data from one other perspective. As you know, at Goodreads we are more concerned with what people are reading rather than what people are buying. As such, we analyzed our database for the top read ebooks of 2011:
It’s telling to note that two of the top 10 most read ebooks on Goodreads in 2011 have an explicit connection to Amazon. The Hangman’s Daughter, ranked fourth on the list, was published as part of Amazon Crossing, the e-retailers publishing imprint that specializes in repackaging popular titles from other countries and translating them. The ninth book on our list, Fate, is by Amanda Hocking. Hocking is a self-published author who until recently only sold her books online through the Kindle and other online stores. Earlier this year she made news when she revealed that she made over a million dollars last year.

Based on our data, Amazon’s statement, and other industry analysis, we think authors should look closely next time they open a fortune cookie. Perhaps it will say; There are ebooks in your future, and profits on the horizon.

Just wondering how many readers out there are buying e-books? If you have time to make a comment that would be great, Carmel