I heard some interesting information from a university press. This press recently started a line of shorter (~100-200 pages) scholarly books with the intention of offering them as ebooks only, priced attractively. They got some inquiries about print copies, so decided to use a print-on-demand model. The ebook sold for less than the print-on-demand hardcopy. Even so, the print versions outsold the ebooks by a huge margin. Some of the books were on the reading lists for massive online open courses, and even though purchasing the ebook meant instant access to the text, the publisher sold three times as many print copies as ebooks.
I wondered if it was the nature of non-fiction, scholarly material, or perhaps the demographics of students taking open online courses. From my own ebook reading, I know books with footnotes can be a pain; it seems no ebook reader software handles them nicely. But I love ebooks otherwise. Saves bookshelf space, and I can carry a library with me when I travel and read what I'm in the mood for, not whatever I threw into my carry-on bag.
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