Subscription eBook consumption will continue to grow, according to speakers at the Digital Book World conference in New York City.

Leaders from major eBook publishers sat down on a panel and answered questions on the state of the industry. Discussion centered onthe role subscriptions will play in the future of eBook publishing and consumption.

Amazon’s Russell Grandinetti, Senior VP, Kindle, stated: “We can all observe the fact, that in every single digital media category, subscriptions are playing an important role. In music, in movies, in newspapers – you cannot find a digital medium where subscription isn’t a model that succeeds at some level, and I don’t think books will be immune to this.”

While a-la-carte eBook consumption has led to revenue growth for many publishers and technology vendors, Grandinettialso cautioned about taking this growth for granted.

Amazon and other services like Scribd and Oyster know that their most voracious readers will benefit from a subscription offering, and seek to serve as a new content “discovery platform” for these readers. According to their internal data, Grandinetti maintained that after the initial 60 days of Kindle Unlimited membership, the total amount of time spent reading is up 30-40%.

While subscriptions currently only account for four to five percent of eBook market, subscribers “continue to maintain their purchase behaviors and patterns. They actually spend more (money) than typical book buyers,” said Jonathan Stolper, senior VP of Nielsen Book Americas.

Insider Take:

While short-term eBook subscriptions revenue may cannibalize individual sales, the customers who read the most will be around for the long term. To Grandinetti, it’s a question of creating subscription offering that’s “for the right customer at the right time, and the right publisher or author at the right time…” We certainly agree. As the eBook publishing market continues to grow and evolve, we look forward to seeing who will be able to strike the right balance between growing a subscriber base and maintaining existing revenue levels of one-off book sales.