As economy tanks, ‘escapist’ reading increases
Since the beginning of 2009, it seems like each week brings more bad news resulting from a battered economy. Large layoffs at publishing houses. Publishers freezing new manuscript purchases. Independent bookstores closing all over the country.
There is a glimpse, however, of a ray of sunshine in this dark economy. The New York Times posted this article about the rise in "escapist" book sales. What the heck does that mean? Escapist reading is when people read books to get away from it all, take a mental vacation. The most popular genre is by far romance, but it’s followed closely by mystery and science fiction:
Harlequin Enterprises, the queen of the romance world, reported that fourth-quarter earnings were up 32 percent over the same period a year earlier, and Donna Hayes, Harlequin’s chief executive, said that sales in the first quarter of this year remained very strong.
Not to shabby, especially considering how much of a pounding the publishing industry has taken throughout this year. And I haven’t forgotten about the role ebooks are playing all this:
Romance novels have also captured a larger proportion of the electronic book market than other categories. Whereas most publishers say that about 1 percent of sales come from e-books, Harlequin says that digital editions make up about 3.4 percent of its sales.
The article continues with this juicy tidbit:
At Fictionwise, the e-book seller recently acquired by Barnes & Noble, about 50 percent of sales are romance books, said Steve Pendergrast, chief technology officer. "Romance readers tend to be voracious readers," Mr. Pendergrast said. "The ability to instantly download and start reading is potentially more important to that audience than any other audience."
I have noticed this "escapist" phenomena in myself. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot more science fiction, rather than literary fiction or the more cumbersome (and expensive) books of essays, etc. What am I currently reading? I’m glad you asked! The book that now occupies my nightstand is Pattern Recognition (aff link) by William Gibson.
If that book doesn’t tickle your fancy, you can check out other book I have read and recommend by visiting Brad’s Book Basement!
What are you currently reading to escape the reality of your every day life? Have you cut down on buying books because of the economy, or would you rather give up useless things like food and electricity? Let us know what you’re thinking in the comments below!
Related posts
- Despite bad economy, Harlequin has good year
- NEA: Fiction reading among adults increases!
- In bad economy, craft your way to literary success!
- Publishers continue to struggle in down economy
- Romance is still a mystery to me
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