E-book sales revenue officially tops revenue from hardcover

June 21, 2012 - By Deirdre Donahue, USA TODAY

It's officially an e-reader world.

CAPTION

By Paul Sakuma, AP

For the first time, revenue from the sale of e-books has outstripped revenue from hardcover sales. Using information compiled from 1,189 publishers, the Association of American Publishers reports that for the first quarter of 2012, adult e-books sales were $282.3 million, up 28% from last year.

Meanwhile, adult hardcover sales were $229.6 million, up 2.7% from last year. Adult paperback sales were $299.8 million, down 10.5%. During the same period in 2011, hardcover sales revenue was $223.5 million, compared with $220.4 million for e-books.
This week on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list, the e-books outsold the print versions for 19 of the top 50 books.