Boomer women stand to be the most likely of any demographic to buy (or ask Santa for!) an e-book reader this year, according to Stephen Reily, the founder of VibrantNation. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that although "cheap new e-readers are expected to be one of the hottest gifts this holiday season," the new owners will be in for some sticker shock when it comes to loading their gadgets with top-selling titles. Back in 2007 when the Kindle first hit the market, downloading digital bestsellers came at a mere $9.99 a pop. But although the Kindle itself is now going for under $100, down from the original price of $399, the cost of popular reads such as Ken Follett's "Fall of Giants" has zoomed up to $18.99 as an e-book compared to $16.50 for the paperback.
The reason for the price gap is that the major publishers now set their e-book prices, which mean that retailers can't offer discounts. On the other hand, retailers are free to lower the cost of printed books – and they often do exactly that in order to move excess inventory off the shelves.
Even so, many e-books remain a bargain. Research shows that the average price per title has actually fallen to $8.19 in 2011 from $9.23 in 2009. Everybody's best guess is that book lovers, and Boomer women in particular, will continue to prefer the convenience of being able to tote around an entire library and enlarge the print on the "pages" at will. If you're among those who put an e-reader on your wish list, here's to happy reading for the holidays and the New Year to come!
