"As a writer, your only duty is to be original, to inspire, to put something new on paper. Don’t be reasonable – your job is to to fire up people’s imaginations, to give them permission to dream, and to lift their heads up to the incredible sight of the stars. They may forget what you wrote about – but they won’t forget how you made them feel.Honestly, I couldn't have said it better myself.
It’s your turn now. Dream, be unreasonable."
-Ben von Burg
However, I'm a bit underwhelmed at the moment, having read the following statistics yesterday (via Trapdoor Books blog):
- Generally, 80% of US households did not buy or read a book last year
- 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the past 5 years
- 42% of college graduates never read another book after college
- 1/3 of high school graduates never read a book for the rest of their lives
- 57% of new books are not read to completion
Why do you want to write books?
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And these numbers are compared to .... what? They don't mean anything on their own. Up until fairly recently, most of the population was illiterate. Books were still written, published, and bought. That 80% of the population did not buy or read a book last year only means something if you think that 80% of the population DID buy and read a book in some year past (which I highly doubt has ever happened).
ReplyDeleteThese numbers are shocking, not for themselves, but only for what you *think* those numbers *should* be but never ever were.
I don't like those statistics. It's sad. I write because I want to. I like getting my stories down on paper.
ReplyDeleteSonje, you're totally right, the stats by themselves mean nothing. Then again, stats are pretty useless since they're just an approximation anyway. If I took the time to think about each one, I could break them down to be meaningless, if not outright false. If people aren't reading, who the hell is buying all these Kindles, right?
ReplyDeleteThere's also the other side of the coin. Where more people are literate now, there are far more ways to entertain yourself than books (where that wasn't the case before radio, television, and the Internet). If people were as gung-ho about reading as they were about TV, though, our libraries would either be larger or constantly empty.
I guess I just had a shaky moment today, pondering the concept that I could write as many books as I wanted and it made no difference if no one ever read them.
Miranda, thanks for stopping by. I agree with everything you said, and congratulations on your two finished manuscripts. :)
I'm having a hard time finding earlier stats, but it appears that book sales have increased every year in the 2000s:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fonerbooks.com/booksale.htm
The statistics are sad. I suppose it's a do-or-die thing with writing and a push to make our book amazingly great. If you don't, there's a good chance it may not ever be read.
ReplyDeleteSonje, you have effectively pointed out that I am a pessimist and have little-to-no faith in my fellow man. :)
ReplyDeleteLes, I agree. Making the best book you can is all you can do. Well, that and market it.
People who say they "don't read" make me want to punch them in the throat. Who says that? There's really NOTHING out there that you want to read? You really have no interest in learning something new or just having a little fun and getting lost in a story? *punch punch punch!*
ReplyDeleteOuch, Micah. I just don't have time to read...
ReplyDeleteActually, you should be punching that TV, Netflix, YouTube, etc.
I did read recently that magazine readership was skyrocketing. Maybe serials will become more popular in the future? Not only that, but interactive serial stories?
A while back, I was following a writer's serial story on his blog. He would post once a week and then his readers would decide his mc's next move. There are several out there. Something to think about. Do you know of anyone doing those? What's their readership levels like?
Nila, I'm willing to bet that access to periodicals on tablets and mobile devices has raised readership quite a bit. If they keep providing decent content on a regular basis, that's a value-add for sure since it's far more convenient to carry around an iPad than ten issues of Cosmo (or Maxim, as the case may be).
ReplyDeleteI don't know anyone doing an interactive serial, but it might be worth looking into. Hell, it might be worth looking into creating a subscription-based app for your blog rather than relying on RSS feeds. With ease to publish, delivery systems are pretty transient these days.
Nila~ mostly that comment was directed toward people who opt out of reading. As in, no e-readers, no books on CD, nothing. That's disturbing to me. Who the eff just DOESN'T read? I can't get my head around that.
ReplyDeleteWho the eff just DOESN'T read?
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm trying to think of someone I know who doesn't read...can't think of any except maybe my youngest brother. But even he probably reads the text in all those games he plays. My sister is a realtor. She reads a lot for her work, so I imagine she refrains from reading for pleasure. But even she said she'd read my book once it's finished. Yeah, I can't imagine someone who doesn't read...kind of scary.
Here's the link to the White Chapel Project:
ReplyDeletehttp://whitechapelproject.com/
I stopped reading when he took a break, but obviously, he continued the story. One of these days maybe I'll catch up on the story.
Scary numbers. I can probably believe them to an extent. I forget at times how few people read when I peruse my circles on twitter and elsewhere, but in the daily grind at work and in the real world it is all too evident. Most people don't make the time for it. Sad. Yes. I see a number of people on the BART with Kindle out, or head buried in a paperback, but they are still a minority. Perhaps the explosion in YA popularity in recent years will be a good thing for the future.
ReplyDelete