eReaders for Kids

I don't recall ever seeing anyone younger than 25 or with a dedicated eReader.  That's why I was impressed when I saw the stats cited in this recent New York Times article.  Here are the excerpts that jumped out at me:

At HarperCollins, ebooks made up 25% of all young-adult sales in January, up from about 6% a year before.

In 2010 young-adult ebooks made up about 6% of the total digital sales for titles published by St. Martin's Press, but so far in 2011, the number is up to 20%.

Wow.  And note that Kindles and Nooks are the devices cited; you won't find "iPad" anywhere in that article.  That doesn't mean the iPad isn't influencing these sales, of course, but it makes sense that the lower-priced dedicated eReaders are driving the bulk of this surge.  After all, how many parents are comfortable handing a $500+ iPad over to their 11- or 12-year-old?

This seems like it could be an even bigger opportunity for the eReader vendor willing to explore the sub-$100 price point.  Not $99.  I'm thinking $49.99, max.

I've suggested this before, but why not come out with a Kindle or Nook that's nothing more than a reader.  No wifi.  No cellular.  It's simply a reader with a port that tethers to all the popular smartphones.  You download your books using the smartphone app and move them to your eReader via a cable.  Even if the young reader doesn't have a smartphone it's highly likely their parents do.

Is this clunkier than the current solution with wifi/3G built in?  Absolutely.  But by casting a broader net, imagine how many new young book lovers we could create!

Comments

[Andrew]

I still think that this is a great idea, and not just for young readers. There doesn't even need to be a smartphone involved for the download. Kids can use one of those computer things they learned about in history.

That said, I don't know how much wireless adds to the cost of an ereader. Probably not enough that a wireless-less ereader could be sold at $49 without incurring a loss. Then again, costs are coming down, and making a loss now to get your ereader into the hands of young people now might make sense for Amazon and others.

[Phil]

Great post, Joe, but it got me thinking: might that 25% of young-adult sales on e-readers not reflect the segment of adult fans of YA? Judging from conversations on many blogs I know that many adults love what's going on in YA right now, and they judge that some of the best writing is being done there. I wouldn't be too surprised if that segment of sales is skewed as a result.

[Devaki Khanna]

What if these e-readers carried books in multiple formats, such as Kindle, ePub and PDB? That way, those of us who purchase books in multiple formats would be a lot happier!

[Yael K. Miller]

I'm seconding Phil. I'm a member of an "adults who love YA" book club and a number of group members have ereaders. Unless someone has data that says the age of who is reading (not just buying) the YA, you can't really tell what's going on.

[Bill Seitz]

I didn't see anything suggesting that publishers knew what portion of those ebook sales were read on, say Kindle software running on a desktop or an iPhone (or ipod touch), vs on Kindle hardware.

[Notcathy @ Kids Pillow Pets]

The nice thing about this would be, it is allowable to download your books using the smartphone app and move them to your eReader via a cable. Even if the young reader doesn't have a smartphone it's highly likely their parents do. Great idea!