Entertainment & Pop Culture - Books

By Jerry Price - May 1, 2006

“Net sales for the entire United States publishing industry are estimated to have increased by 1.3 percent from 2003 to 2004 to a grand total of $23.72 billion, according to figures just released by the Association of American Publishers (AAP). Overall, trade sales rose 1.9 percent, with sales of $5.16 billion. Adult trade hardbound gained 6.3 percent ($2.61 billion), while paperbound sales were also up 2.8 percent ($1.51 billion). Juvenile hardbound sales were down 16.7 percent ($581 million), however, paperbound sales were up 3.8 percent with sales of $465.6 million.

“El-Hi (elementary/high school) sales were up 0.1 percent ($4.30 billion), while higher education sales rose 1.8 percent, with sales of $3.45 billion. Standardized test sales grew by 12.4 percent ($923.9 million).

“Sales of professional and scholarly books were up 2.0 percent in 2004, with sales of $4.06 billion. Book clubs and mail order publications (down 8.9 percent, with sales of $1.18 billion) and mass market paperback sales (down 8.9 percent, with sales of $1.11 billion) all lost ground in 2003. Publishing sales of religious books (which includes many self help texts) grew 5.6 percent in 2004 totaling $1.33 billion. ‘Other’ book publishing sales were up 5.0 percent ($2.20 billion) emphasizing the overall growth in publishing sales through this catchall designation.”

Book Publishing Industry Net Sales Totaled $23.7 Billion in 2004 (Association of American Publishers), February 22, 2005 [Accessed December 19, 2005]

According to Gallup Poll, almost one-half of all Americans are reading some type of book. The median number of books read in the past year is five with about half of Americans reading more than five and half reading less than five. Of those who read books, more women than men read. People aged 30 or more read more than those between 18 and 29. Some other results found in the survey are:

  • The gender gap is in the double digits – 53 percent of women vs. 42 percent of men are currently reading a book, an 11-point difference.
  • Among people in the three older age groups, the percentages reading a book are similar (47 percent to 51 percent), but significantly higher than the percentage among people younger than 30 (40 percent).
  • It’s no surprise that education correlates highly with reading a book, going from 33 percent among Americans with a high school education or less to 74 percent among Americans with at least some postgraduate experience.
  • People following current events are also more likely to read books. The poll included questions on the U.S. Senate filibuster and on stem cell research. The more people were paying attention to either issue, the more likely they were also to be reading a book. For example, among people who were following the controversy over the U.S. Senate filibuster ‘very closely,’ 64 percent were reading a book, compared with 55 percent among people following the controversy ‘somewhat closely’ and just 39 percent among people not following the issue closely. The same pattern was also evident by how closely people were following the issue of stem cell research.
  • Movie attendance does not appear to depress book reading. The more movies people attend, the more likely they are to be reading books—from 33 percent who didn’t attend a movie last year, to 49 percent among people who attended a few movies, to 62 percent who attended several movies.
  • Also, among people who say they are attending movies more often than they did five years ago, 56 percent are presently reading a book, compared with 47 percent among people attending the same number of movies as in the past, and 44 percent among people attending movies less often.

About Half of Americans Reading a Book (Gallup Poll), June 3, 2005 [Subscription required]

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