An epic tale? Well, hardly – but the rise and fall of the e-book may the year’s most critical story for trade book publishers.

What lies behind the decline in e-book sales is hardly mysterious – one of the big 5 publishers has flatly pointed to “new retail sales terms” – yet sharp fall in children’s e-book sales goes far beyond price.

“Clearly price is certainly playing a role here. With the new contracts publishers have struck with Amazon and other distributors, e-book prices have indeed risen,” notes Andrew Albanese, senior writer for Publishers Weekly.

“With regard to children’s books, the format has just not taken off — and as a parent to two kids, I think I understand why,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “Kids' e-books are apps. They are games, essentially. And they fall under screen time, rather than reading,”