Book sales dwindling despite healthy economy
USA Today
Even the magic of Harry Potter can't rescue the sluggish state of the book business.
Despite a healthy economy and the popularity of J.K. Rowling's novels about a kid wizard, sales of general-interest books dropped 3.3 percent in the United States last year, according to an industry study.
Rowling can take some credit for the fact that sales of children's books rose 10.1 percent between 1999 and 2000. But that was more than offset by dwindling sales of adult titles, the Book Industry Study Group reported.
More expensive books were hit the hardest. Hardcover sales dropped 12.9 percent and trade paperbacks declined 14.2 percent, while cheaper, rack-sized mass-market paperbacks fell 2.8 percent.
The preliminary report, released at the BookExpo America convention this weekend, offered no explanation for the decline at a time when baby boomers are reaching their prime reading years. Those 35 and older are slightly more than half the population, but two-thirds of book buyers.
Researcher Barrie Rappaport offered a "personal theory": "People don't always have time to read. I know as a working mom with two kids, I don't have the time to read what I would like."
Former congresswoman Pat Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers, says all retail sales dropped at the end of last year. She links it to the uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election. "It kind of paralyzed people," she says, "or at least they stopped shopping."
Because of price increases by publishers and smaller discounts from booksellers, consumers spent more while buying fewer books, spending $14.14 billion last year, up from $13.24 billion in 1999. Previous industry studies have warned of a limited number of people willing to spend $25 on a book.
Another study, based on a survey of Internet users, offers mixed reviews on e-books and online book sales:
• Two-thirds of Internet users have heard of electronic books, and close to half are interested in the concept, but only one user in four is likely to buy one, according to the survey by market research firms Ipsos and the NPD Group.
• The percentage of books bought online reached 7 percent, up from 5 percent in 1999. Of those who have bought something online, 55 percent have purchased a book.
