Data Galore

Ever since I giggled over my first Cosmo poll with my girlfriends, (back when banana clips were still a Thing and it was totally normal to wear inflexible plastic jelly shoes,) I have been a sucker for statistics. Even the blatantly non-scientific kind sparkle like Twilightian vampires. So imagine my fangirl squee of bliss to discover not one, not two, but three legitimate and news-worthy recent surveys dealing with book reading, book buying, and the publishing industry!

The Shelf-Awareness writeup on WI7: Book Buyer Behavior was very informative. One statement in particular gave me pause:

"Half of all readers do not want to use any kind of e-reader and there is no sign of a "killer" device–like the iPod in music–that would break through this resistance."

I imagine this is because an electronic display inherently changes the experience of reading. Whether my headphones are plugged into an mp3 player, a cd player, or (ahem) a Sony Walkman tape deck, the biggest difference in listening to a song is the quality of the recording. But when I fire up my Nook, the computer-glow of the screen and the weight of the casing is a far cry from dog-eared pages or the scent of a brand new book, not to mention no longer having the ability to stare at the cover with the flick of a wrist. (Also–why don't ebooks seem to include the back cover copy?? How am I supposed to know which one I want to read next if I can't read the backs of 30 or 40 likely candidates? Is it just me?)

Also not to be missed: Harlequin's 2012 Romance Report Findings and, if you're a member of Romance Writers of America, the Romance Literature Readership Statistics!