Book
readership, according to a new Pew Research Center Survey, is down about 8%
since it recorded such things in 2011.
73% of Americans say they consumed a book last year – whether it be audio,
print, or e-book. 79% read at least one
book five years ago.
E-book
readership remains stagnant. 28% of adults reported reading an e-book this
past-year -- same as the year before. 68%,
however, have read a printed book this past year. Only 6% of respondents claimed they read e-books
exclusively, while 38% said they were print-only readers.
Audiobook
readership – or listenership -- was down.
In 2011, 14% said they heard an audio book, and that number slumped to
11% last year.
The
study from last year showed Americans have evolved into hybrid consumers. It acknowledges that digital sales, which
make up some 20% of the market, have slowed sharply and don’t appear to be
rebounding. Print sales are strong and
showing an increase.
So
what’s the optimum profile of today’s ideal reader? It will be a woman, white, under 29, with a
college degree, who earns over $75,000 annually, and is suburban. Women outnumber men in average number of books
read – 14 for female vs. 9 for male -- annually.
A
recently released Livres Hebdo/Publishers Weekly ranking of book publishers
worldwide reveals a lack of growth in gross revenue for major publishers, though it doesn’t indicate
profits and losses. Of the top 25
publishers, only nine showed increased revenue from 2014 to 2015.
Penguin
Random House, which is German-owned, is the largest U.S.-based, purely trade
publisher. The rest of the top 10, which
includes Pearson at the top, are a mix of trade and educational publishing.
The largest
American book publishers are McGraw-Hill, Wiley, Scholastic, and Harper
Collins.
If
you look at total revenue of the top 10 publishers worldwide, last year was
slightly down from the prior year, by about 700 million bucks -- or 2% less
revenue.
Certainly,
there is a link between readership and profits.
More readers, buying more books, at a higher price will yield bigger
bucks. Where will the industry look for
growth? That’s always the magic
question.
Increasing
literacy rates will help. Improving the
economy helps. But companies will need
to do more to expand distribution. As
the number of bookstores grows – and the number of locations where books are sold rises – we’ll see a period of expansion.
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