Dan Moren on Apple Books

Dan Moren, writing at Six Colors:

Sharing a little of my own data here: I’ve self-published my own short stories across most major ebook market places. Amazon makes up the bulk of those downloads and sales — 53 percent and 66 percent, respectively. Apple comes in a solid second place in sales, with 21 percent, and third place in downloads with 11 percent. My literary agency has also published my novel All Souls Lost in ebook across those platforms, and Apple Books sales are also in second there, accounting for 18 percent of sales to 63 percent for Amazon.

I suspect my numbers are probably skewed by the fact that my audience — that’s you all reading this, in large part — are overrepresented by users of Apple products. That said, to my eyes, Apple has managed to achieve itself a comfortable, if distant second place in ebooks without really spending much in the way of time and effort. Which perhaps explains why they’re looking to cut costs and reduce focus — if the business works “fine” as is, then why invest more?

My disappointment stems from the fact that Apple is better positioned and equipped than anyone else in the industry to take on Amazon head-to-head in ebooks. But doing so would require the company to do something different.

★ Wednesday, 28 August 2024