In the past six months all the major publishers have posted income downward. Not only are printed books that are not doing so well, but digital ones are almost facing the abyss, and even more so if we know that some publishers, such as Penguin Random House, have declined to share their figures specifically.
Penguin Random House has experienced a massive 10 percent decline in the sales of digital and printed books. They have stated that the losses would have been greater if it were not for the great moment in which audiobooks are found, which are serving as the lifeline for this book industry.
In a letter to his employees, Markus Dohleo, CEO of the company, shared another factor for the decline in earnings and this is missing a Grey's-style mega best seller, which helped sustain revenue last year.
On the other hand, we have the HarperCollins sales figures that were maintained during the first six months of the year, although with a loss of 1 million dollars. They declared that a large part of the sales relegated to the best sellers of last year, such as the Divergent and American Sniper series that generated 69 million dollars, more in income than they did in the last fiscal year.
One of Brian Murray's observations hangs over the volatility of the price of e-books that seems to have settled down in the end, due to the stabilization in its price. Still, digital sales fell 15%, although they were cushioned by sales of audiobooks.
Simon & Schuster came to obtain a profit in profits, although the same has not happened in the income. CBS shared a loss of 3,5 percent in revenue, reflecting lower sales of digital and print. Finally, all concur that publishers are highly dependent on a few books that drive revenue.