Ask The Expert

“Do people actually buy children’s picture ebooks?”

November 5, 2020

“Do people actually buy children’s picture ebooks?”
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Q –

Dear Angela,

I’m not sure if I want to invest the money needed to have my children’s picture book converted to an ebook. Do people really read picture books to their babies on computers, tablets, and smartphones?

M.G.

A –

At BookLocker, we have published numerous color-interior picture books for children. And, a few of those are available as ebooks as well. However, we have never seen impressive sales of children’s picture ebooks. The print editions FAR outsell the ebook editions. Most people (around 80%) still prefer print books over ebooks and, from my analysis, the divide is far wider where children’s picture books are concerned.

However, children’s chapter books, and those for young adults, sell well as ebooks because older children and young adults often have their own electronic devices for reading ebooks. In other words, they’re not sitting on an adult’s lap while having a book read to them.

How many parents or grandparents want to buy their child or grandchild an ebook for Christmas, or as a birthday gift? Not me! Do you?

As a whole, print books continue to FAR outsell ebooks. The ebook industry has had more than two decades to try to get people to convert to that format but the vast majority of folks keep buying print books – despite the extra costs and shipping fees.

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2 Responses to "“Do people actually buy children’s picture ebooks?”"

  1. Pamela Allegretto  November 6, 2020 at 3:01 pm

    I agree. Kids like the entire picture book experience. They like to point to and touch the images and turn the pages back and forth while being read to. And they like to handle the books and look at the words and images by themselves. Books rock! The sooner they are introduced into a child’s life the better.

  2. jedidiah manowitz  November 6, 2020 at 10:25 am

    Some people may buy them. But the kiddie picture ebooks are a worse bet than converting to audio books. Too expensive to make and too few sales to be worth the effort.