The Book Market

Here's a passage from an article in the Feb. 2012 issue of Harper's.

"A generation ago, America's book market was entirely open and very vibrant. According to some estimates, the five largest publishers in the mid-1970s controlled only about 30 percent of trade book sales, and the biggest fifty puyblishers controlled only 75 percent. The retail business was even more dispersed, with the top four chains accounting for little more than 10 percent of sales. Today, a single company -- Amazon -- accounts for more than 20 percet of the domestic book market....In many key categories, it sells more than half the books purchased in the United States. And according to the company's estimates, its share of the e-book market, the fastest growing segment of the industry, was between 70 and 80 percent in 2010."