Maybe because I read more e-books, especially fiction, than bound books, I’ve thought publishing my own should begin with e-books. I’ve learned, though, it’s not always true. Well, as I get in the wayback machine, I remember my first self-published book was a fifty-page booklet copied on my office copier. My husband, son, and I stayed up late in the night binding copies before an event. Truly a self-published print book. That book is now available as an e-book.
That isn’t the case today. Self-published print books can be as easy as e-books. In fact, for most book distributors the files are nearly the same. Which comes first is generally the question.
Let’s look at the pro and cons of the “which” question: “Which should come first: the e-book or the print book?” Maybe the sales figures will give us a hint.
The American Association of Publishers (AAP) has a monthly report of sales. The information is broken down into four categories: trade (consumer books), religious presses, higher education course material, and professional. The most recent stats are for November 2024 and can be found here. We’ll focus on trade publications with a quick look at religious presses.
Overall, sales in the trade category revenues were up 7.9% from November 2023 to November 2024. All formats saw an increase. Hardback increased 6.9%, paperback up 7.7%, and mass market 17.5 %. E-book sales increased a paltry 2.9%. Digital audio format was up a whopping 16.1%.
Religious presses saw an overall increase of 24.6%–23.9% for hardback and 23.1% for paperback. E-books on the other hand were down 6.9% with digital audio coming in up 5.4%.
These numbers indicate print maybe the place to start coming out of the gate.
What do other self-publishers think?
If we look at the KDP community message boards, we seem to a split decision. As one person said, “Since they are formatted utterly differently, it makes no difference where you start.” Those who posted on the forum also were split on the easiest file to format as well.
As we review some of the numbers and opinions, I think we can safely say print seems to have an advantage over e-books. But the statistics also tell us, for the most part, digital audio seems to be a growing trend.
No matter where you choose to begin ultimately, it’s a good, well-written book that wins.
Formatting e-Books for Writers is being updated. Readers of this blog may get a free e-book, PDF or EPUB, of the current version by sending an email to susan@susankstewart.com with NAIWE in the subject line. Be sure to include the file format you would like.
Susan K. Stewart teaches, writes, and edits nonfiction when not tending chickens, peacocks, and donkeys. Susan’s passion is to inspire readers with practical, real-world solutions. Susan’s first published work was a poem in her elementary school “literary” booklet. Since that humble beginning, Susan has written for newspapers, magazines, and compilations. Her books include the award-winning Formatting e-Books for Writers, Harried Homeschooler’s Handbook, Family Preparedness in the City and Suburbia, and Donkey Devos: Listen When God Speaks. In addition to being a managing editor at Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. and co-owner/administrator of The Writers View, Susan is a member of American Writers and Speakers Association, Christian Authors Network, and Proofreader and Editors Network.