Research for an article I wrote several years ago (data therefore aging by the minute) about the book publishing business. Frightening.
Readers
1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
42% of college graduates never read another book after college.
80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
70% of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
57% of new books are not read to completion.
70% of books published do not earn back their advance.
70% of the books published do not make a profit.
About 120,000 books are published each year in the U.S.
A successful fiction book sells 5,000 copies.
A successful nonfiction book sells 7,500 copies.
Quantity of Publishers by Year
1947: 357 publishers
1973: 3,000 publishers
1980: 12,000 publishers.
(The New York Times, February 23, 1981.)
1994: 52,847 publishers.
(Books in Print.)
2003: Estimated 73,000 publishers
(parapublishing.com)
Book in Print
1.5+ million titles in print (currently available in the U.S.)
Since 1776, 22 million titles have been published.