According to newly released statistics from Bowker Market Research self-published books accounted for more than 20% of crime, science fiction, romance and humour ebooks sold in the UK in 2012.
Steve Bohme, UK research director at Bowker said that price was the reason most cited by readers for the purchase of self-published ebooks. By contrast, price was only the third most important reason for choosing to buy other ebooks, and books as a whole, behind "author" and "subject".
And Bohme revealed that women are more likely to buy self-published ebooks than men, with 68% of buyers of DIY ebooks female – more than the 58% of female readers buying books as a whole. Those who bought self-published ebooks were also more likely to be heavy readers, with the statistics from Bowker showing that 61% of buyers of self-published ebooks said they read daily, compared to 37% of buyers of books as a whole.
It’s evident that the self-publishing arena continues to grow at an impressive rate and the price contrast is an interesting one. Big names obviously continue to sell books and ebooks but with self-published books in general upping their game in terms of quality it will be fascinating to see if this gap closes anytime soon.