The paper book resists. There is no doubt about that. The reason why the electronic book has not finished eating the book on paper because the big publishers have not wanted, because the business is still in the publication of the book on paper. Publishers know that, after deducting expenses, paper beats electronic books because readers do not hesitate to pay fifteen or twenty dollars for a paper copy and would scream in the sky to pay more than seven dollars for the same book in digital format. Don't forget that this is a business and publishers are there to make money.
Having said that,
What are the advantages of the electronic book over paper?
Advantages from the reader's point of view:
More comfortable reading. You can enlarge the letter and change its typography whenever you want.
Dictionary. Most electronic reading devices have a built-in dictionary that makes it easier for us to know the immediate meaning of words we don't know or have doubts about.
Illumination. The latest generation electronic readers have built-in lighting (which can be adjusted) that allows you to read in low light or at night without disturbing anyone.
Notes. You can underline and make notes that you can manage later and share them with other readers on social networks.
Searches. You have the option to search for words, underscores or annotations and find them instantly.
Buy. The purchase, being digital, can be made at any time, from your home, without having to move to the bookstore. There are already eReaders, such as Amazon or Kobo, that you can purchase books from the same reading device.
Storage. Electronic books take up almost no physical space and you can have a few stored to read them whenever you want.
Price. The price of an ebook is cheaper than a paper book. Even after acquiring the electronic device to read them, the profitability is overwhelming.
Catalogue. Editions in digital format are not discontinued. You can find any book whenever you want.
Transport. The ebook you can take anywhere without problems, weighs little, the latest models do not weigh more than two hundred grams.
Advantages from the point of view of the editor:
Layout. The layout is less cumbersome because we save many elements such as page numbering, word division, headings, page justification, etc.. Therefore, digital layout is less expensive.
Graphic design of the cover. The graphic design is also simpler than for the paper edition, because we save the spine design, the calculation of the spine thickness and the back cover, therefore, the design is cheaper.
Storage. The electronic book only takes up space on a hard disk, so storage costs are almost non-existent.
Printing. The electronic book does not need to be printed, so it does not generate surpluses that have to be destroyed. A single original is worth to be sold millions of times with the same production cost, unlike the paper book that increases its cost with printing.
Distribution. Perhaps this is the strongest point of the electronic book because it can be distributed worldwide without much effort, it would only have to be uploaded to the digital portals of electronic book sales. On the other hand, distribution is one of the most serious problems of the paper book that increases its final price.
Dissemination and marketing. The diffusion of the electronic book is easier than the paper book because it allows reading extracts of the first chapters for free from the digital portals and being shared on social networks or by e-mail to thousands of people.
Collection of profits. Usually the collection of profits from sales of e-books are made per month, unlike the paper book which is usually made at ninety days and even a year.
Ecological footprint. This is also a point that must be taken into account since the ebook leaves a smaller ecological footprint than the paper book, especially in the aspects of printing and distribution.
For these reasons the electronic book (ebook) should replace the paper book, but it still does not. The answer to why publishers still see paper as the real business.
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