It is a fantastic bit of news: even in the midst of the colossally bad economic environment, people are buying books and reading them. The subjects may range from how to cope with the bad economy, to vampires or comfort foods, but the fact is people are reading.
The story in today’s International Herald Tribune is worth reading, if you are in the media business:
Whether they are picking up “La Crise, et Après?” by the French economist Jacques Attali, one of umpteen translations of the American author Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, or “Jamie’s Ministry of Food,” by the British television chef Jamie Oliver, they are buying books. As the recession leaves other media industries in tatters, the oldest mass medium of all is holding up surprisingly well.
The article points that that the book selling craze has been particularly evident in Continental European countries. After a dip in the autumn, the number of books sold in France rose 2 percent from a year earlier in December and 2.4 percent in January, according to Livres Hebdo, a trade publication. In terms of revenue, the gains have been even bigger: 4 percent in January and 7 percent in February, according to GfK, a market researcher. It is also strong in Germany, but not as good in the United States and Britain, however, falling by a fraction of 1 percent in both countries last year, according to Nielsen Bookscan. U.S. sales were down about 1 percent in the first 10 weeks of this year.
I have mentioned it before that I think the newspaper of the future will incorporate some of the type of reading that we find in books—-more analysis, interpretation, excerpts from literary works.
As various media appear in the horizon, the book, particularly, has always been a subject skeptics name as likely to disappear. When newspapers first appeared, there were those who proclaimed the end of the book; then, of course, radio would kill newspapers; television would substitute all other media, and the same has been forecast about the Internet. Yet, what we continue to see is a sort of survival of all the media, albeit fighting for the users’ attention. Historical shifts in how we receive information are, of course, an important factor.
We will be “reading” through a variety of platforms, including the already popular Kindle 2 from Amazon, but reading will always be there. As long as that happens, we storytellers are in business.
Today’s story about the power of book reading is one to be happy about.
For the complete IHT article, go here:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/15/business/books16.php
TheMarioBlog post # 216