What Books are Selling aka Do People Even Read Anymore?

I was at the National Speakers Association Winter Conference and someone said to me, I want to write a book, but do people even read anymore? What's the point? I was stunned given that I had read two books on the plane on my way to the conference, and my team is always reading. But I get it. It seems like we're attached to our phones, addicted to social media, and relying on digital apps for entertainment more than we're reading. So if you're writing a book, you can't help but wonder, do people even read anymore? Well, if you're wondering that, then this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the book broad, the founder of the fabulous self publishing services team called Book Launchers. If you ask anyone on the Book Launchers team what their favorite scent is, they'll probably tell you that it's the scent of a brand new book. You know the one. That crisp, woodsy smell of freshly bound pages and ink. It's familiar to every reader. But is it a scent that's soon to go extinct? Well, back in the good old days before the technology boom, it seemed like reading was one of the top choices for how people spent their leisure time. Turning on Netflix or getting sucked into endless TikTok videos wasn't an option. But books have been an option for thousands of years. We used to be a civilized culture who appreciated a good book rather than the newest television show or social media app. Oh, that time is a fairy tale. We made that up. It didn't ever exist. All you need to do are look up stats from the Gallup surveys. In 1957, not even a quarter of Americans were reading a book. Almost 50 years later, in 2005, that's after TV and Internet. Remember that stat? It had shot to 47%. And despite the constant rise in technology since then, we're actually reading more than ever before. Yep, we're reading more than ever before. In 2019, a survey from the NPD Group reported that nearly three out of four consumers in the U.S. that's 75% reported reading a book or listening to an audiobook within the last year. In fact, 2021 was a record breaking year for book sales. And I'm not talking ebooks or audiobooks. I'm talking actual physical hold in your hand. Best sell smell ever. Print books. Sales of all printed books in the US rose nearly 9% in 2021. From 2020, it totaled 825 million copies sold. That's the highest ever seen since the start of NPD's tracking. And it's not just fiction books that are seeing increases in sales, they do lead the charts. Young adult fiction increased by 30%. Looks like our teens aren't stuck on social media all the time. Like every parent seems to worry they're actually reading more. This year, kids fiction also rose by almost 10%. And nonfiction books, the category you might be worried about if you're in the throes of your noboringbook manuscript? Well, sales jumped up over 5% last year with the travel category leading the way with a 20% increase, followed by business and economic books at almost 20%. So yeah, people definitely still read these days, nonfiction books included. And despite the panic and fear that some have had that technology would trump printed books and digital reading would take over, that does not seem to be the case. Physical books aren't becoming obsolete at all. And it's predicted that into this next year, physical retail will be more important than ever as consumers get back into in person shopping habits. Now that's not saying the digital forms of reading aren't here to stay. Technology didn't knock out printed books from our bookshelves, but it did change the way we read. And with paper costs rising and gas prices skyrocketing, I think ebooks and audiobooks are becoming more and more popular because they're less costly and nobody has to deliver and or pick them up. Prior to digital advancements and the Internet, our brains read in a totally different way. We didn't deal with nearly as many distractions, so our brains processed in a predominantly linear way, reading one page at a time before moving on to the next. Now when we read with a digital device like an ebook, tablet or computer, we're managing dealing with multiple distractions while commanding the tech to do what we want, whether that's using our finger to swipe or clicking with the mouse. These seem like tiny interruptions, but they still affect our reading comprehension as accuracy and speed. But there's no denying digital advancements in the publishing industry have better and improved reading overall. If you want to start a new book, all you need to do is grab your Kindle, download it, and get going. The love for ebooks isn't fading, even as printed book sales are booming. About one in every six books sold last year were ebooks, and there are still some readers who prefer an ebook over a physical one. If you're publishing a book, you'll want to make sure that you do both formats to really give your sales the best chance of success. And if you really want to boost that success even more, make sure you include an audiobook. Over the past few years, audiobook sales have seen double digit growth. And guess which category is seeing the biggest increase in audiobook sales? Go ahead, post it down below. And while you're thinking, don't forget to hit that thumbs up button. See it right there? Yeah. Go ahead, hit it. Did you guess adult nonfiction? Because if you did, you're the winner. In 2020, adult nonfiction saw a 49% growth from the previous year for audiobook sales. More and more readers are turning to audio for their nonfiction reads, especially those between the ages of 18 and 44, who are the biggest consumers in the audiobook category. Lucky for you, I have just the video you need to help narrate your audiobook. Check it out right here. And don't forget to turn your notifications on so you don't miss any upcoming ones coming out. Oh, and if you're still writing your book and need some tips, this video right here is also a must see. The coffee's on. I'll meet you there.