That’s the report from The Bookseller today:
Bloomsbury’s e-book sales topped £1.1m in the first three months of 2011 …
In his chief executive’s statement Nigel Newton said in 2010 and 2011 e-book sales had “seen significant growth”, adding that “since the last quarter of 2010, the UK has also begun to experience a surge in demand”. Bloomsbury’s e-book sales have grown from £79,000 in 2009, to £1.5m in 2010, with sales from January to March 2011 reaching £1.1m. He added that, with the Kindle now “firmly established in the UK market and recently launched in Germany, there is now a focused effort to sell e-books throughout the world”.
He also said: “The retail landscape is changing with more titles being sold online or through supermarkets, in e-book or print format. The impact of digitisation is becoming considerable and acquiring world English language rights is of premier importance in the digital future.”
Looking ahead, Newton said: “This is an exciting time for Bloomsbury: demand and digital delivery, including e-books, is increasing significantly; it will change the publishing business model creating one worldwide market.
More info in the article.
Their sales would be even more significant if they could convince J.K. Rowling to put the Harry Potter books out as ebooks. But maybe I just live in a fantasy world… 🙂