Some startling statistics

[Ya Sam]

Some startling statistics

by Robyn Jackson



So 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.

(Source: Jerold Jenkins, www.JenkinsGroupInc.com)



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.

(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)



Statistics can be manipulated, and these paint a fairly bleak picture, but 
don't give up. Write that novel, pitch that nonfiction book idea to a 
publisher. Follow your dream. Just don't kid yourself about how easy it will 
be to get published. Sure, a lot of crap gets published, but the better your 
manuscript is, the likelier you'll be to see it in print.



One of the keys to publishing success is to target your audience. Notice 
what's on the best seller lists. All those John Grisham mysteries and Nora 
Roberts romances and the like tell you what people are reading.



Publishing is a business, and publishers want books that fit neatly into a 
genre because they know there's a huge audience for mysteries and romances, 
even cookbooks. Books that don't fit into a genre will have a harder time 
finding a publisher, no matter how good they might be. It's all about money, 
honey.





Robyn Jackson is a newspaper features editor with 20 years experience. She 
is also the author of three unpublished historical novels and plans to 
become a life coach specializing in helping writers achieve their dreams. 
She writes a weekly column about writing on her Web site, 
www.robynjackson.com.



Copyright 2003, Robyn Jackson


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

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