Although people like to say that print books are going out of style, the research I did with my group in class showed otherwise. Even though audiobooks and ebooks are much cheaper, the majority of people (both worldwide and in the United States) still prefer to buy the hard copy. We found charts and graphs that showed comparisons of the number of physical books bought versus ebooks in many countries all over the world- and physical books always won by a long shot. We also saw a chart about how many people read digital books versus physical books and once again physical books won easily. It seems that printed books are going nowhere anytime soon.
That said, digital books are becoming more and more common. But since this does not seem to be affecting the publishing and selling of print books significantly, this may be seen as a good thing for new writers. It means there are many more ways to get their book out there and get published. However, more people being able to get their book into the world also means that you're writing doesn't have to be as good and it may not be as much of an accomplishment.
At the very least, if printed books do go out of style, we can be sure they will make a comeback- if for no other reason than as "vintage keepsakes." Look at the record player and its comeback in the age of digital music. If books ever start to disappear, they won't be gone for long. Booklovers, we can relax. :)
