Jk Rowling made an absolute mint from the sale of e-books in 2018, conjuring up a magical £33 million pounds, pushing her estimated personal fortune past the £750 million mark.

The figures were released by her firm, Pottermore LTD, which handles all the digital publishing and sales of her work.

But, are these numbers the result of witchcraft and wizardry, or are they a sign that e-books are the future?

We took to the cobbled streets of Rochester to ask people whether they preferred the swipe of a screen to the turn of the page.

Cynthia, 64, would take a book any day of the week: “Books, I don’t understand computers, Alas”

She wasn’t the only one that prefers the feel of a real book, Jacob,20, says nothing beats the feeling of a real book in his hands.

He wasn’t alone, Vivian 60, also said nothing beats the turning of a page.

Shelia, 70, enjoys the best of both worlds having both books and a kindle, although she’s more keen on the kindle at the moment, “I’ve got a kindle because its more handy when you go on a holiday, you haven’t got to put a lot of books in your suitcase,” she said.

Best selling author and screenwriter Julie Wassmer is a devoted real book fan and believes that nothing can compare to the real deal.

“If you love books you actually come to love the look of them, the feel of them in your hands, along with, even, the smell of the pages, its a real sensory pleasure that you just do not get with an e-book”, she said.

However, while nothing will replace the feel of a real book e-books are a much cheaper option. This is because e-books eliminate publishing costs and also because of subscription based services such as Amazons Kindle Unlimited service which gives subscribers access to millions of books for a small monthly fee- about the same as the price of a traditional hard back.

Although, perhaps it might be worth ditching the cheaper e-books in favour for their paper copy counterparts as Julie believes buying books is a more ethical choice.

“When you buy a hard copy book you are actually making a more ethical decision, in effect you’re supporting small local economies, such as, local high streets.” She said.

Food for thought when you consider you’re next book purchase.