The following statistics about book publishing and reading were found on www.parapub.com, this is the Web site of self-publishing guru Dan Poynter. They’ll give you an idea of what you’re up against if you are trying to encourage students to read.
- 1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
- 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
- 80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
- 70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
- 57 percent of new books are not read to completion.
- 70 percent of books published do not earn back their advance.
- 70 percent of the books published do not make a profit.
(Source: Jerold Jenkins, www.JenkinsGroupInc.com)
- 53 percent read fiction, 43 percent read nonfiction. The favorite fiction category is mystery and suspense, at 19 percent.
- 55 percent of fiction is bought by women, 45 percent by men.
(Source: Publishers Weekly)
- About 120,000 books are published each year in the U.S.
(Source: www.bookwire.com)
- A successful fiction book sells 5,000 copies.
- A successful nonfiction book sells 7,500 copies.
(Source: Authors Guild, www.authorsguild.org)
- On average, a bookstore browser spends 8 seconds looking at a book’s front cover and 15 seconds looking at the back cover.
(Source: Para Publishing, www.parapub.com)
- Each day in the U.S., people spend 4 hours watching TV, 3 hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.
(Source: Veronis, Suhler & Associates investment banker)