Although the Market Didn't Expand the Way Many Experts Predicted, the E-Book Market is Far From Dead.
By Gregory H. Bey
You can visit just about any web site hosted by a mail order dealer and find offers for e-books. Many dealers will offer an e-book as a free gift This is usually to encourage the potential customer to purchase an entire set of e-books with reproduction rights.
Back in 2000, the gold rush for the e-book market was at its height. All of the big players in the publishing industry rushed to stake their claim in what they thought would soon be a billion dollar industry.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Well, the e-book industry didn't take off as most of the experts predicted it would. One research firm predicted that e-book sales would go from $9 million in 2000 to $14 million in 2004. Other research firms have made similar predictions.
So far, it seems that the experts have missed the mark by a wide margin. At this point, the e-book industry is still struggling to get off the ground. Several companies who thought they would be making tens of millions of dollars selling e-books are now out of business.
The problem is that there are certain things that were not taken into consideration concerning this new technology. They put the cart before the horse. It's like selling an automobile without a steering wheel or a bike without pedals. In other words, there was very little consideration given as to how people would access these new e-books.
Yes, the e-book can be read on any computer. But very few people are comfortable reading large portions of print on a computer screen. People prefer to read while sitting in their favorite easy chair. What was needed is some kind of a portable handheld device that allows a person to comfortably read the e-book anywhere, just like a regular book. Of course, there has been a rush to address this problem. But as of now, no one has come up with a good, inexpensive handheld device to read e-books,
I don't think it will be long before advances in electronic screen technology will permit production of reasonably priced portable reading devices. Then, watch out! Ebook sales will take off.
E-BOOKS AND MAIL ORDER
Are there any real markets for e-books right now? The e-book market is not dead--there are several niche markets for this product such as text books for college students, directories, and catalogs. People who do a lot of traveling can easily slip several light weight e-books into their carry-on bag. Also, people with special needs can benefit from e-books. The mail order/home-based business industry is an excellent market to sell e-books. This market is always in need of specialized information which can easily be accessed through e-books.
Here are some web sites that offer e-books to the home-based business entrepreneur. Most of these e-books can be purchased with reproduction rights if you want to add them to your product line:
www.smithfam.comwww.wisdomforwealth.com
www.worldwealthplus.com
www.reprint-rights.com
The e-book market is going to continue to grow. But there are some problems that will have to be addressed before the general public has easy access to reading them. Nevertheless, there are many savvy entrepreneurs who are doing very well marketing e-books right now.
Gregory H. Bey offers free business building consulting services to new mail order entrepreneurs. You can contact him to get his free audio cassette, just send three first-class stamps to:
Day-Star Communications 7023 Hermitage St Pittsburgh, PA 15208-1110 (412) 363-7187
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