Cheap e books for e-readers are going from strength to strength, according to Amazon.com.
That’s according to new research by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which analyzed more than 1,200 titles on Amazon for the company.
While ebooks are still relatively expensive compared to traditional books, they’re now cheaper than ever.
It’s also an advantage that publishers and authors can capitalize on: A book on Amazon can be as cheap as a movie or TV show, or as expensive as a book on Netflix.
In short, Amazon’s platform can help authors and publishers reach more people at a lower cost than traditional booksellers.
The company released its study Tuesday morning.
It analyzed more 1,180 ebooks from more than 70 authors, including more than a dozen from the same publisher, as well as more than 100 titles from Amazon’s own catalog, including some by some of the same authors.
For those books that Amazon has not released yet, it asked authors to rate the books for quality, ease of use, and overall value.
It found that “more than 90% of the ebooks were highly recommended by readers,” according to a statement from Pricewater’s managing director, Daniel Zuchnick.
That meant that authors rated these books “great” or “very good” by Amazon reviewers, but “not great” or worse by those same reviewers.
In other words, the average rating for a book by an Amazon reviewer was “great.”
That meant a book rated “great,” “very excellent,” or “good” by a reader was the most likely to earn Amazon a recommendation.
Amazon said its study was the first of its kind and that it will continue to track this data as it does with all books.
“With a broad range of titles, Amazon will continue our long-standing process of providing more accurate and complete ratings to readers across all genres,” it said in a statement.
