Book "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown Skyrocketing on Kindle

 Dan Brown's new book "The Lost Symbol" is now available in digital format as an e-book on Kindle. Since the release of the kindle version of the book, sales of this digital version have topped those of the hardback book itself. This, according to research into Amazon's category sales rankings, supposedly means that digital versions of books are becoming more popular than the tangible, hard and paperback copies.

However, is the Kindle lead really an indication that e-books will one day replace real books? Not likely. Dan Brown's new Kindle lead could simply be explained due to many factors. First, the kindle version is $9.99, while the hardback copy is $16.17. In addition, the hardback copy of "The Lost Symbol" was on Amazon's top 100 list for nearly 5 months before the Kindle version was ever released.

Although it doesn't seem likely that e-books will completely replace real books any time in the near future, publishers are taking measures to prevent profit losses by holding off on digital book releases of their new, high sale books. They don't come out and admit this, however. Instead, they state that they are unable to give the book it's full potential in digital format, often citing the inability to include photographs and illustrations as their reasoning behind delaying, sometimes indefinitely, digital copies of their books with the most profit potential.

Why the concern? Many publishers will see these enormous sales of Dan Brown's new book on Kindle as a sign that the e-book revolution is here and hardback books will soon be a thing of the past. On the contrary, this is merely an indication that the few customers who were awaiting a Kindle release of "The Lost Symbol", downloaded it as soon as it was made available. It's an indication that the book is popular, not necessarily the format itself. These Kindle buyers are merely fans of Dan Brown's work, anxiously awaiting the release of the latest in a line of best sellers at the lowest possible price. While many would enjoy reading his work on a small screen, others still prefer snuggling up under a blanket with their favorite beverage and a good book.

The point here is that it's the content that matters, not the method which it was delivered. If movies haven't completely replaced books after all these years, e-books probably won't either.