Fewer Americans are reading books for pleasure, according to
the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts from the National Endowment for
the Arts.
The survey covered a 12-month period ending in
July, 2022. It said only 48.5% of adults read at least one book for pleasure
during that year. It was nearly 55% in 2012, a decade ago. It was 52.7% in
2017. So the numbers are low — and have been on a long downward trend.
Why?
We know one has many other options to spend
their entertainment time on — from plays, television, movies, podcasts, and
sports to other reading venues, typically free ones: online news media, blogs,
and websites. But still, nothing is quite like the experience one gets from
reading a book for pleasure.
It can’t be about money. Books are relatively
cheap and readily available for free at libraries and various web sites.
It can’t be about time. Many fun books only take
a few hours to consume.
It can’t be about availability. There are plenty
of great books on any topic imaginable, available online, in stores, and at
libraries.
So, what gives? What is going on?
I think the nation suffers from heavy ADHD
tendencies. We have the attention span of a flea. We just live off of our
phones — short texts, re-shared memes, emoji-filled emails instead of words,
mindless bantering on social media posts, short podcasts, and 22-minute
streamed TV shows our mindshare is controlled by our phones.
Who is going to actually sit down and read a
350-page book without images, sounds, and flashing colors, where your
imagination has to work at making you dream and think?
It seems reading has become a sport. We read a blog
or social media post or an article and share it with others. Or, we comment on
it and enter into a dialogue/debate with another. This is more of what I call
interactive or activist reading. Unfortunately, we don’t interact with our
books in that way, save for some book review and comment sites. Reading a book
takes time and focus -- but our smart phones are blinking and begging us to get
a dopamine fix by sharing some quip or reposting an article or video link.
Only 37.6 percent in that survey said they read
at least novels for pleasure. 9.2 percent said they read poetry books for
pleasure. 2.4 percent said their reading books for pleasure came in consuming
plays.
American literacy needs a boost. We have a
nation of dummies, underachievers, poor readers, and those who are distracted
by all things digital. Reading can’t just be the domain of highly
educated people, older Americans, and those who are lonely. We need people to
find pleasure in reading more books, ones that invite stimulation, fun, and
happiness.
Do you have any suggestions on how we can get
people into reading books for fun?
Maybe we need radical incentives. Perhaps
we should:
* Hand out free books in public places and hope
that some recipients read what they were gifted — and enjoy it so much that
they come back for more.
* Pay people to read a book, hoping that such an
introduction will kick off a new-found habit and love.
* Have a book-reading challenge that rewards
those who post on social media who discuss the books they read.
* Make stocking stuffers for Christmas only be
books.
* Find a brand-leader to marry the public to
books — get influencers, celebrities, models, pro athletes, and others to
champion the joys of book reading.
Help get the word out and encourage others to read books for
pleasure.
Need Book Marketing Help?
Brian
Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their
story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of
experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him
be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!
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About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on LinkedIn. This is
copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now
resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue
dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The
Writer and IBPA’s The Independent. This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.4 million pageviews. With 4,600+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by
www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with
many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with
best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen,
Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard,
Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C.
Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a
panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA,
Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction
Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland)
Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association.
His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News
(Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The
Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult:
www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.
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