E-market challenge for paper books

A woman reads e-books on the ipad in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. [Photo/icpress]

According to Mizuno, the e-publishing industry will continue to boom, with e-books' market share rising from about 20 percent now to 50 percent in 2020.

Patrick Neale, co-owner of the Jaffe and Neale Bookshop & Cafe in London and president of the Booksellers Association in the UK, predicts that e-books will be "amazing" in five years.

"Now, e-books are boring with only words and illustrations. But in five years' time, they may become really attractive if they enrich the content by adding materials, such as video interviews with the author and photos of where the story is set," Neale says, adding those additions could make it tough for bookstores.

"The other long-term worry is that the next generation may just do everything electronically. For example, an increasing number of schools are giving students iPads for reading assignments," Neale says.

"We have to tell people books are wonderful for relaxation and remind them to pick up printed books."

While some booksellers are calling for people to return to paper books like Neale, Liao Mei-li, co-founder of Eslite Bookstore, one of the largest retail bookstore chains in Taiwan, suggests that brick-and-mortar bookstores embrace the new technologies.

"Bookstores of the future can use the new electronic carriers of books to display their products. The shelves may be full of smartphones, tablets, LEDs rather than paper copies," Liao says.

"With the rapid increase of Internet speed, the content for reading may be not only words but also audio and video, which requires publishers and booksellers to revolutionize their business ideas."

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