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Book news,
publishing industry statistics and
self publishing facts

With our mission to provide an extremely complete portal site for those interested in books and self publishing, here are some fascinating publishing industry statistics about the book industry in general and book news on self publishing facts in particular. Our goal is to provide the media, authors, publishers, librarians, booksellers, agents, editors, and all book enthusiasts with publishing industry statistics and self publishing facts. The most recent figures available are quoted in this compilation of book news and publishing industry statistics.

	The New York Times reported that "According to a recent survey, 81% of people feel that they have a book in them...and should write it." If you do the math, that represents over 200 million people in the U.S. who want to write a book in their lifetime! No wonder self-publishing is thriving as never before!
	A new survey found that 23% of readers polled have visited an author's web site, while only 18% have gone to a publisher's site. The survey, conducted by advertising firm Spier New York, surveyed 813 readers, 35% of whom were under 35 years old. The survey also found that 50% of those queried had purchased a book as a gift within the past year. Online purchases represented 28% of books bought, while 89 % came from a brick-and-mortar retailer.
	More booksellers are turning to publishing, says an article in the June 5, 2006 Publishers Weekly. It seems some independent bookstores are installing instabook machines so they can produce Print on Demand (POD) books right in the store. They're catering to customers who write local histories, genealogies, memoirs, coursepacks, dissertations, poetry, etc. So far those climbing on this bandwagon are all in the East: Book Ends in Ridgewood, NJ; The Bookloft in Great Barrington, MA; and the Book House in Albany, NY.
	The largest growth area in publishing is currently eBooks. In January 2006, eBook sales jumped by over 50%.
	USA Today has added a searchable database of 10 years of bestseller data. You can find it on the page where their weekly bestseller list is posted. A key discovery: the all time best-selling writing/reference guide in the United States is The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. (Note that it was originally a self-published book!)
	Consumers in the Northeast spend the most on reading materials, while spending is the lowest in the South.
	Sales of religious paperback books represents a significant market share in today’s publishing arena. The new gospel on book sales has spiritual and religious titles crossing over into mainstream bookstores and taking upwards of 7% of all book sales. The Purpose Driven Life, for instance, has sold over 22 million copies. And this is not a New York phenomena: the publishers, agents, and authors are primarily a whole different group than the Big Apple players.
	The National Endowment for the Arts released a 2004 report titled “Reading at Risk.” The bad news is fewer than half of all American adults now read “literature” (think fiction or poetry). The decrease for all age groups from 1982 to 2002 was 10%...with the exception of 18- to 24-year-olds who had a decline of 28%. The good news: Many of these readers have switched to reading nonfiction or have gone to screen-based reading on Blackberrys, cell phones, and computer screens.
	There is a new concept, “wag the long tail,” which means if you rack up enough small sales, especially consumer sales on the Internet, it will add up to big profits in the long run. Technology is turning mass markets into millions of niches. Independent presses, self-publishers, and authors can sell effectively into these micromarkets. This bodes well for new and mid-list authors, not to mention creative-minded smaller presses.
	Blogs can lead to books. A blog is a great place to flesh out ideas, get reader feedback, and sometimes catch the attention of an agent or publisher. Two of the most recent bloggers to find success through this medium are Markos Moulitas and Jerome Armstrong. Chelsea Green will soon bring out Crashing the Gate, their blueprint for Democratic success in 2006 and 2008.
	The ratio of customers to bookstores is highest in Nevada, Texas, and Mississippi.
	Statistics provided by publishers to the Association of American Publishers revealed that net sales in February 2006 were at $358.4 million, up 12.3% over the same period in 2005. Genre leaders were higher education and adult mass market paperback.
	About 20% of online sales are of titles not available in traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Projections are this figure will soon reach a third of all book sales.
	Many famous authors and their books were rejected multiple times. Publishers turned down Richard Bach’s Johnathan Livingston Seagull no less than 140 times; Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind received 38 “no’s,” while Stephen King’s Carrie was turned down 30 times. J. K. Rowling’s original work was pooh poohed by 12 publishers...guess who’s kicking themselves now that they passed on Harry Potter? And E. E. Cummings first work — The Enormous Room, now considered a masterpiece — was ultimately self-published...and dedicated to the 15 publishers who rejected it.
	What element of a book is the most important? Seventy-five percent of 300 booksellers surveyed (half from independent bookstores and half from chains) identified the look and design of the book cover as the most important component. They agreed that the jacket is prime real estate for promoting a book.
	Speaking of promoting, niche magazines, which focus on a single topic, are becoming increasingly popular. This trend to specialization — everything from magazines on poker playing to horse people, from interior design and decor to wedding titles, from dog magazines to golf periodicals — provide targeted opportunities for promoting books on these topics.
	It is good that these fragmented magazines exist. Book review column inches in newspapers have dropped by 20 to 50%.
	University presses are rebounding. They increased their title input to 14,484 (up by 6.3%) in 2004, an all-time high. The growth engines were history, biography, and law, which represented 55% of the increase. A Princeton University Press title even topped the New York Times non-fiction best-seller list.
	Half of all books sold today are to people over the age of 45. Thank you Boomers!
	Used book sales are mushrooming, thus cutting out revenue for both authors and publishers. Estimates are that used books are now a $300 million plus industry. Three years ago they were barely a blip.
	Wonder about America’s most literate cities? Here they are ranked from 1 to 10:          Minneapolis, Minnesota          Seattle, Washington          Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania          Madison, Wisconsin          Cincinnati, Ohio          Washington, DC           Denver, Colorado           Boston, Massachusetts           Portland, Oregon           San Francisco, California
	From 8,000 to11,000 new publishers enter the field every year, they are mostly self publishers.
	There are about 1.5 million books in print at any one time in the U.S.
	Over 195,000 new titles are published each year in this country.
	Under the Radar:  A Breakthrough, In-Depth Study of the Book Industry's Underreported Segments and Channels shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, smaller regional and niche publishers contribute significantly to the overall industry. The report, released in April of 2005, reveals that approximately 63,000 publishers with annual revenues of less than $50 million generate aggregate slaes of $14.2 billion. A subset of that group, roughly 3,600 publishers with annual revenues of $1 million to $49.9 million, is responsible for $11.5 billion on the total. The study divulges that small and midsize publishers have been using routes to readers beyond the bookstore arena, often selling more books outside normal trade channels than within them. As the Davids prosper, the Goliaths consolidate.
	As of 2005, romance fiction is responsible for 48% of all paperbacks sold, bringing in $1.41 billion a year.
	Annual reports for 2004 North American sales are in for Barnes & Noble / B. Dalton, Borders / Waldenbooks, Amazon.com and BN.com. Amazon showed a 12% growth over 2003 with annual sales of $2.59 billion. Barnes & Noble / B Dalton's brick and mortar stores had a 7% increase, coming in at $4.45 billion. Borders / Waldenbooks showed a 2% step-up on $3.37 billion in sales , while BN.com lost ground: -2% for a total of $0.42 billion.
	In March of 2005, Borders began renaming its Waldenbooks stores in malls Borders Express.
	Annual consumer expenditures of books will reach $44 billion by 2008. The most significant growth will be in the elhi (elementary/high school) category and standardized-test segments of the industry, with respective increases of more than 20% and 45% respectively.
	The explosive domestic growth enjoyed by Amazon comes from third party sellers, both individuals and businesses, merchandising through Amazon Marketplace and their Z-Shops. The Internet giant lost $1.96 million on shipping, but considers this a marketing or promotional cost.