Highlights of 2011: The Year In Book Publishing, By The Numbers

From Borders’ bankruptcy to Amazon’s ambitions, it was a busy year in book publishing. Here are five numbers to put 2011 in focus.

1. 20: The percentage of book sales that are digital at big-six publishers Random House and Hachette, with other publishers well on their way to reaching that point.
2. $79: The price of Amazon’s cheapest Kindle, the ad-supported Kindle 4 with Special Offers.
3. 100,000+: The number of original e-singles that longform journalism site Byliner has sold since April.
4. $9.99: The price around which class-action lawsuits against Apple and publishers are centered, and the price that Amazon charged for a New York Times bestseller before big-six publishers adopted agency pricing, which allows them to set the prices of their own e-books.
5. 450: The number of titles that Amazon bought from children’s publisher Marshall Cavendish. The books provide the basis of Amazon’s new NYC-based children’s publishing imprint; all will be available in digital format as well as print.