Lol I got to this site thanks to a BC UK.

you want to write a book. Well, why not? So does about 80 percent of the United States population according to a survey by the Jenkins Group.



Anyone who has ever tried to find an agent or get a manuscript accepted by a publisher knows what a tough business writing is. Even if you do get your book published, there's no guarantee anyone will buy it.



The following statistics about book publishing and reading were found on www.parapub.com, the Web site of self-publishing guru Dan Poynter. They'll give you an idea of what you're up against if you want to write books for a living.



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.


53 percent read fiction, 43 percent read nonfiction. The favorite fiction category is mystery and suspence, at 19 percent.

55 percent of fiction is bought by women, 45 percent by men.


About 120,000 books are published each year in the U.S.


A successful fiction book sells 5,000 copies.

A successful nonfiction book sells 7,500 copies.


On average, a bookstore browser spends 8 seconds looking at a book's front cover and 15 seconds looking at the back cover.


Each day in the U.S., people spend 4 hours watching TV, 3 hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.



source http://www.humorwriters.org/startlingstats.html

That is all so sad! :cry: Nobody is reading anymore! Well, except us! :D

at least we know we're trying to fill that gap

I mean if they we're to do some stats about readers, I know its not enough to balance the scale.

I have some good exemples of non-readers at home, my parents used to read a lot, but at some point they just stoped doing. my dad still has a big library. I guess wacthing tv is just easier.

my 19y old sister must problably have read 1 or 2 books not for school, and she didnt even read scholl assined books

I'm the black sheep of the family. Really they think its strange how much and read and that i rather be on my room reading then watching tv

:omg: :no:


Mind you, this would make sense according to the 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle I read about in The Tipping Point recently. Like, 80% of the beer is drunk by 20% of the population. So it's likely that 80% of books are being bought/read by 20% of people.

Yeah my in-laws don't get it either, although my mother-in-law does read. They think I read all the time and that I spend more time in the bedroom than anything. I can't help the fact that I like reading in/on the bed. It's just me! I want to be comfortable.

My sister and I read a lot during our Jr high/elementary years of summer. Like we would get 10 or more books from the library each week. She dropped the habit after college and went to work. She's just now getting back into it and actually reading some of the same authors as I. I'm happy for her. :o :whistle: Helps me get rid of some of my books.

Wow! Those are crazy statistics! I am glad that I am a reader and am mostly surrounded by them, though I did get chided by my mom yesterday for spending too much time on facebook when I could be reading! :rolleyes:

Yes they are crazy. I wanted to find statistics from the world. not to single out the USA but I could not find them.
They should be there somewhere I am sure.

Especially this makes me sad

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.

Do you think it's that much different around the world?

I would love to know Meshe.
Not sure but it could be..

UK:
The average person reads books for 5.5 hours a week, books are still read in 90% of British households and around 80% of adults read books for pleasure. A quarter of adults do so because they consider reading to be a special activity, providing them with something that TV and computers cannot.



Reading the Situation goes deeper than previous research into gender differences in relation to reading. The gap emerges very young, with 63% of girls reading poetry and nursery rhymes compared to 37% of boys. From as early as six, differences can be detected in the amount of fiction reading between the sexes, and, by adulthood, 77% of women are reading fiction, compared to 45% of men.


Women spend more time reading books - 6.7 hours a week, on average, compared with 4.2 hours for men. And men and women have very different ways of weaving reading into their lives. Men are much less likely to discuss the books they read, to recommend them or to act on recommendations they receive. They tend not to trust the judgement of others when deciding what to read and are more likely to feel they should finish a book once started.

Netherlands:
IN 1995
average TV time: 12.4 hours a week
average reading time:
Books-1.2 hours a week
Magazines 1.4 hours a week
newspapers 2.0 hours a week
Percentage who sait they had not read a book in the last month- 49.7
More countries here

I just returned from Paris and I was happy to see a lot of people reading while riding trains and the Metro. I think they are ahead of Americans in reading.
I know that I read more on my vacation than I have in awhile-6 books in 10 days. I was doing a lot of sightseeing, but the TV was in French and I didn't have a computer in my hotel so I read each night. It was nice to get back to :)

In Japan and Hong Kong too, it's common to see people reading books/newspaper/magazines on metros, buses, in restaurants... Japan especially has a really strong reading culture and many neighborhood bookstores.

Here in U.S. you definitely see a lot less people reading. well, at least in Miami. I used to have to go to the city halls to line up for permits etc and the wait often last over an hour. I'll see a roomful of people just opt to stare at the air (or chat on the phone if it's allowed) and I will be the lone soul reading a book. Or if I wait at a bank, same thing.

I think the most readers I've seen (outside of library, bookstore...) are on airplanes.

OMG What a big difference between The UK and The Netherlands with the amount of reading per week.

Here I was thinking we did not do so badly, people did still read quite a lot.
I am so glad so many people still read in Britain.


Now I am going to visit LJ's link.
Thank you so much babe.!!! :hug: :bananadance:

Oh The Netherlands they last checked was in 1995? :o
Let me visit the link, see if there is more info.

I just got the impression that all the Book Obsessors are keeping bookstores in business. :blink:

:P

sht. :whistle: :lol:

When my relative who lives in Germany saw me in public reading a book he said OMG you're just as those crazy Germans reading in buses and everywhere! :lol:

Here there are no many people reading in public. I'm usually the only one who reads on the bus station; in buses there are people who reads but usually if they are sitting (I'm usually the only one who reads no matter if I stand or sit).
Oh that counts for books. However everyone is reading newspaper no matter in which position. (especially in the morning)