According to The Booksellser, Hachett UK says that ebooks are about 8% of new title volumes sales in publication month. Year to date Hachette’s ebook sales are 5 times what they were in 2009.
Although this is still far off the figures quoted by Amazon, it seems likely the gap between digital and print is closing: in the first quarter of 2010, hardbacks accounted for 20.3% of the UK print market by volume, according to Nielsen.
“As we see in the US, things are changing rapidly,” said Walkley [of Hachette], adding he “certainly” believed e-books would outsell hardbacks in the UK. Much depends on the book and the author and, in some cases, the genre—some authors already have big bestsellers in e-books in the US and it will happen in the UK
too.”
I should clarify – as The Bookseller later corrected – that the 8% figure is the maximum level that digital volume reaches. The average is of course lower.
Best wishes, George.