The old is new again- Gatsby as an e-book

Digital Book World reports that F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is currently Number Three on the e-book bestseller list, up four spots from last week.  I don't doubt that the upcoming film release has a lot to do with driving interest in the book, but IMHO this also represents a new development in the industry.  Walk through it with me for a minute.

Imagine that this big blockbuster film full of pretty people is coming out soon, and the e-book does not exist.  The film drives interest in the book, and sales of the book see a jump.  But I think a lot of people would hit the used bookstore, the secondhand shop, or even their own box of books left over from high school or college, or visit the library, looking for The Great Gatsby, rather than pay cover price for a new copy. 

Now imagine our present reality, one in which there is an e-book version of The Great Gatsby available.  I can go online and pay five bucks for an e-book and it is on my Kindle or my laptop instantly, no haunting the secondhand bookstores required.  If I absolutely require a hardcopy, I can order a new paperback online for about the same price, and then pay the shipping on top of that, for a total of eight or nine dollars.   But if I just want to get it read before going to see the movie, the e-book will serve fine.

And I think this new wrinkle is why we're seeing The Great Gatsby performing so well on the e-book bestseller list.  Cheap and easy, and all those little dribs and drabs of cash flowing to the publisher, rather than the used and secondhand shops.  In fact, maybe even more money, because if I look for the book and can't find it used, perhaps I would just give up and see the movie without reading it; but the e-book is so easy, the very convenience of the transaction might drive the purchase.

Anyway, it's something to ponder.

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/self-published-titles-hang-tough-on-ebook-best-sellers-list/