The Death of the American Penny.

Well, it’s been in discussion for years, but the man behind the curtain X’d (I guess you can’t say tweeted anymore?), that the American penny should be killed. So, his underling ordered the American Treasury Department to stop making pennies (which each cost about 2.3 cents to make–about $178 million a year–and some have argued only Congress can do this (kill the penny), but, well, that’s another discussion for a later time).

I just read an article highlighting that eBooks make up about 21% of total book sales in the USA now, and that total is rising each year. Once an eBook is released, the average price is $14.99. Within six months they are $0.99 or free on Kindle Unlimited. Hardcover books sell for $29.99 or more and paperbacks sell for about $19.99.

Our local Costco doesn’t carry books any more. Our Target and Walmart still do, but their departments are shrinking. We have one, only one, local independent bookstore in West Hawaii (Big Island—population 200k). During a recent trip back to Los Angeles (where I lived for 30 years) one of the Barnes and Nobles bookstores closed. There are now 12 Barnes and Nobles stores in the greater LA area (population of LA county is about 10 million). An independent bookstore I used to frequent in Santa Monica closed a few years ago. Thankfully Book Soup in West Hollywood is still there.

In any event, I am guilty of buying mostly eBooks now. I have a large print library that takes up two walls with books that were read once, shelved, and are now gathering dust (well, my house cleaner does actually dust). ???? I do, however, purge some books each year and donate them to various organizations, but can you believe it that our local library doesn’t want them? They don’t have room to store them. I know some people still love to hold a book and especially smell a newly printed one (I do too), but I can imagine in a hundred years the death of the printed book too.

Penny today. Printed books tomorrow?