ParaPublishing.com has an interesting collection of book statistics which show that there is clearly still a market with a very hungry appetite for books. Yet at the same time, there is a huge widening gap between book lovers and non-book lovers. Some particularly interesting statistics include:

• Quantity of Publishers by Year
  1947: 357 publishers
  1973: 3,000 publishers
  1980: 12,000 publishers
  1994: 52,847 publishers
  2003: about 73,000 publishers
• 1.5+ million titles in print (currently available in the U.S.)
• Since 1776, 22 million titles have been published.
• What genres/categories are people buying?
  55% Popular Fiction
  10% Religious Nonfiction
  9% Cooking/Crafts
• One-third of the books sold worldwide are sold in the US.
• On the average, a book store browser spends eight seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds looking at the back cover.
• 81% of the population feels they have a book inside them.
• Out of every 10,000 children’s books, 3 get published.
• Women buy 68% of all books.
• 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
• 42% of college graduates never read another book.
• 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
• 57% of new books are not read to completion.
• Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.
• Only 32% of the U.S. population has ever been in a bookstore.
• Up to 40% of all books manufactured never sell. Most publishers would rather suffer the costs of over-runs and returns than run short of a title.

I cannot help but wonder how accurately these statistics are regarding Bible reading. Could it be that 80% of US families did not buy or read a Bible last year? It is a good reason why ministries should emphasize the importance Bible reading for new Christians as well as seasoned Christians.