Latest sales reports from the Association of American Publishers show clearly the direction for e-books: Down.

“Are publishers finally getting a handle on what’s driving the decline? After the first quarter of 2016, I would think, yes, they would have,” reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer. “But the problem is, I don’t think they necessarily have the tools to reverse the slide, at least not quickly.”

In the months ahead, major publishers who hope to reverse this now well-established course for ebooks must decide whether to get creative with marketing or pricing, or both. Any solution to save the ailing market will also require creative legal thinking, Albanese notes.

“How publishers choose to price e-books or promote them will mostly come down to how they sell them through Amazon, while still balancing print sales and supporting indie bookstores,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.