The Atlantic > Kindle Beats Paper in Online Sales of Top Book

Sep 17 2009 / 11:10 am / Derek Thompson

Kindle Beats Paper in Online Sales of Top Book

I knew the e-reader revolution was on the horizon, but I didn't realize that the horizon was right in front of my nose. The Kindle version of Dan Brown's new thriller The Lost Symbol is out-selling the hardback version on Amazon. How is that possible? E-readers are not even close to being mass market. Total e-reader ownership is something in the realm of two to three million. Who's got explanations?

Despite their smaller market size, it would make sense for Kindle buyers and owners to be more voracious readers. Indeed, their literary voraciousness was probably what encouraged them to buy an expensive Kindle in the first place. Moreover, if you spend $299 on a e-reader you'll be more likely to seek out and buy books to retroactively justify the purchase. In this way, I expect that merely owning a Kindle increases ones propensity to be on the look out for books to purchase and fill up the memory space you've already spent hundreds of dollars to purchase

Source

[http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/09/online_dan_brown_selling_faster_on_kindle_than_paper.php]

Thanks To ISU College / Susan Rappenwolf / For The HeadsUp!