42% of college graduates never read another book after college

[MrsJoseph]

This was interesting, too.

Books are displayed in bookstores for one selling season of four months. Those books that do not sell are returned for a refund. Yes, books may be "gone today, here tomorrow."
2007
• 40 percent of manufactured books never sell.
• The typical waiting period before books start the long and expensive trek back to the warehouse is a mere four months.
• The industry return rate is 36.3 percent for hardcover and 25 percent for paperback.
• Superstores like Barnes & Noble sell around 70–80 percent of what they order, discounters like Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club only 60 percent.
• 37 percent of all books sent to stores in 2002 were returned.
• HarperCollins lost $250 million in 2002 on returns alone.
• Between 65 and 95 percent of returned books are destroyed once they come back from a bookseller
http://www.beneaththecover.com/2007/03/20/love-hate/

[ApK]

That's a lot of trees dying in vain.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

This was interesting, too.

Does that mean that 40 percent of ebooks never sell and are deleted from the server? I think not, and it's another reason that the price of ebooks should be less. No expense for returning and destroying them.

[DArenson]

Makes sense to me. Most people I know don't read books.

[Fbone]

I start many books that I don't finish. Perhaps, only 30% completed.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by wodin

While it's fun to think that I'm in the top 20% of the population as regards to reading, I don't believe it for a second. Amazon’s original business before branching out was online retailing of books. They did not get where they are by not selling tonnes of paper.

20% of billions of people is more than enough to base a successful business around.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

20% of billions of people is more than enough to base a successful business around.

Yes. And less than half their revenue was in the books, music & movies category. (And 30+% of their sales are thru 3rd parties)

[wyndslash]

strangely enough, my parents seem to balk whenever i want to buy a physical book, probably because it's so expensive here! thank goodness for ebooks

[ApK]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

probably because it's so expensive here!

Where's 'here?'

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

42% of college graduates never read another book after college

Recent blog post discussing the stats of US readers. Other stats included:



I could not track down the survey where the statics were farmed from, but there was this from Wikipedia:


and this from Parapublishing (older data):



There is more recent data but it is harder to quote from, lol.

OMG, that:

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.

is horrible --- especially the last one!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ApK

That I believe. I have been on page 65 of "Dune" for the past 25 years.

blasphemer!

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by wodin

Does that mean that 40 percent of ebooks never sell and are deleted from the server? I think not, and it's another reason that the price of ebooks should be less. No expense for returning and destroying them.

Exactly!

[theducks]

My Mom read Library books frequently, even after her stroke.
New (purchased) books almost never. Used books, all the time.
Same in my house.

I would say less than 10% of my purchased books do not make it to completion (I got sucker into a author that was not to my reading style)

Note: It took me years to finish Mischner's Hawaii , but I finished it.

Our house is littered with books. My wife's and mine (the cat like sleeping on them) 2 out of the 3 kids have big paperback collections.

[wodin]

I remember when you could buy paperback books with the covers torn off at a huge discount. If memory serves (and it probably doesn't) it was something like ten cents on the dollar. These were books that hadn't sold and had been returned to the publisher.

[kennyc]

Yep, cause all they had to return for credit was the cover....