Books Trivia
Posted Tue, 07/26/11
I'm a faithful reader of the Shelf Awareness newsletter. I enjoy hearing news about the industry and discovering the latest trends in book sales, publishing and various author particulars. I truly look forward to reading the daily newsletter.
The last few issues had some interesting stories, including Flavor Wire's 10 Unconventional Bookstores for Your Browsing Pleasure, stats from the AAP Net Sales Report for May 2011 and survey results from the Reading Group Choices poll on reader device preferences.
According to AAP (Association of American Publishers): "Net sales of books in the U.S. during May fell 7.9% to $662.1 million. E-books continued to grow at an astronomic pace (up 146.9% to $73.4 million, representing 11.1% of all books sold on a dollar basis). Last year, with sales of $29.7 million, e-books accounted for only 4.1% of May sales."
The percentage of increase in e-book sales from last year is a whopping 147%. The decrease in adult paperback sales is 14.3%, while hardcover books fell 38.2%.
Hmmm....very interesting.
The Reading Group Choices survey indicated "some 21% of reading group members are now reading all or most of their selections on e-readers, up from 11% in 2009; groups representing 200,000 members were surveyed online and via a traditional mailing in the first three months of the year." In addition: "Of group members reading e-books, 59% use Kindles, 26% use Nook and 20% use a tablet. In 2009, only 7% used the Nook."
On the lighter side, Flavor Wire's unconventional book stores reel is cool. I'd love to visit some of the mentioned places, especially the Book Barge on Barton-under-Needwood in Staffordshire, England and the Montague Bookmill near Amherst, Massachusetts (housed in an 1842 gristmill).
See why I enjoy reading Shelf Awareness?
Tags: Books & Reading; Writing