A new chapter as sales of print books recover

FOR years, book-lovers have been lamenting the inevitable demise of the printed book in the face of competition from digital imposters.

But reports of the death of the traditional book have been greatly exaggerated, according to the definitive annual survey of the industry.

The Publishers Association study has revealed sales of print books are rising while digital sales are down for the first time since the invention of the e-reader.

Experts say the claim the “physical book is doomed” can “finally be refuted”.

Stephen Lotinga, the Publishers Association chief executive, said: “Those who made predictions about the death of the book may have underestimated just how much people love paper.”

This year’s annual report shows physical book sales of £2.76 billion for 2015, up from £2.75 billion in 2014.

Digital sales dropped from £563 million to £554 million, the first year-on-year fall since 2011 when the association started measuring ebook sales. The change has been attributed to readers realising the pleasure to be taken in a physical book, as well as to the popularity of lifestyle non-fiction that does not translate as well to digital. Among those are adult colouring books, which have seen a boom in the past year, along with cookery books and retro humour such as the spoof How To… Ladybird series, which proved popular at Christmas.

Hardback versions of much-hyped new works such as Harper Lee’s Go Set a

Watchman also proved bestsellers, along with cult nov- els such as The Girl on the

Train by Paula Hawkins. Joanna Prior, managing director of Penguin General Books, said: “Both the increase [in physical book sales] and decrease [in digital sales] are too small … for us to make any claims for big shifts in consumer behaviour or make predictions for what lies ahead.

“But I do think any suggestion that the physical book is doomed can now definitively be refuted.”

£2.76bn Total value of physical book sales in 2015, an increase of some £10 million on 2014