A Wall Street Journal trend piece, “The Rise of Phone Reading” (Aug. 12, 2015), discusses new research from Nielsen showing a growing number of people read on their phones—leading to the conclusion that the future of digital reading will be on the phone, not tablets or e-reading devices.
A range of publishers, authors, and retailers—including Amazon, Apple, and Oyster—went on the record to share impressions of what the data (and anecdata) means. Some of the implications:
- Apple and the iBookstore benefit greatly from mobile reading growth—Oyster and Kindle customers are increasingly reading books through their respective iPhone apps;
- Publishers are thinking about phone display when designing covers;
- Marketing for mobile readers means focusing more on email, Facebook, and websites—or anything that’s most often accessed through phones;
- Emerging marketing strategies focus on places where people might download something while in transit (airports, hotels, and trains).
More specifically, the WSJ reports that Simon & Schuster has partnered with Foli (a mobile distribution platform) to offer free ebooks at specific GPS coordinates. Wattpad gets a deserved mention in the piece, since 90 percent of its users are on mobile devices and the company is focused on delivering a mobile-friendly experience for both readers and writers.
All this isn’t to say that print is going away. In fact, Judith Curr of Atria was quoted saying that the future of reading will be on both the phone and in print. But such trends may inform how your next marketing plan comes together, and they may also call to mind the increased sales of digital audio—another form of instant book consumption on the go.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
