eBook Advantages

The International Digital Publishing Forum collects quarterly US trade retail eBook sales in conjunction with the Association of American Publishers (AAP).  For details on the AAP's statistics program, please refer to the AAP website.  The IDPF has aggregated quarterly statistics from the AAP's program and earlier IDPF statistics program represented in the graph below. Please also see important notes below on the data.

• Text can be searched automatically and cross-referenced using hyperlinks.
• A single eBook reader containing several books is easier to carry around (less mass and volume) than the same books in printed form. Hundreds or even thousands of books may be stored on the same device.
• eBooks can allow non-permanent highlighting and annotation.
• Font size and font face can be adjusted.
• eBooks may allow animated images or multimedia clips to be embedded.
• eBooks allow for greater fidelity in colour reproduction compared to CMYK colour printing (although some eBook readers have only monochrome displays).
• eBook devices allow reading in low light or even total darkness by means of a back light.
• An eBook can automatically open at the last read page.
• While an eBook reader costs more than one book, the electronic texts are generally cheaper.
• Text-to-speech software can be used to convert eBooks to audio books automatically.
• eBooks require no storage space for the supplier and can therefore be offered indefinitely, without going out of print, allowing authors to continue to earn royalties indefinitely.
• It is easier for authors to self-publish eBooks.
• Ease of distributing e-texts means they can be used to stimulate higher sales of printed copies of books.
• Although they require electricity to be read, the production of eBooks does not consume the paper, ink, and other resources that are used to produce printed books.