Lockdowns around the world continued to see digital book sales continue to increase during April as ebook distributor PublishDrive reports that its online book sales rose by 23% in April compared with March.
PublishDrive says the April increase followed 20% growth in sales in March and although lockdowns have been starting to ease in some areas, its mid-month report for May shows sales are still looking strong compared with last year.
The company says in March it saw a shift in buying trends with the rise of educational content and Young Adult categories but although these categories were still popular in April, their growth has flattened.
PD adds there has been significant growth in non-fiction categories including business, health and fitness, and self-help. In fiction, the biggest winners have been romance (including erotica), thriller, literary, and fantasy books.
Some traditional UK publishers are also seeing the benefit of a pivot to digital book business.
Bloombury Publishing says it has seen a 52% rise in digital sales while Verso has tripled its ecommerce sales in the first quarter of this year.
Libraries around the world have also been shifting their book budgets entirely over to digital amid widespread reports of soaring demand for ebooks from readers.