Just 54% of Americans Read a Book Last Year, says NEA - Publishing Perspectives

A mere 54% of Americans read any kind of book last year, be it print or digital, fiction or non fiction. But fiction has seen the greatest drop in sales, according to Nielsen. While adult print book sales fell 2.5% to around 501.6 million from 2012 to 2013, non fiction sales were stable at 225.2 million; fiction sales dropped 11% to just 103.5 million. Poetry saw the sharpest decline in readership of any "literary genre," falling from 12% to just 6.7%, according to the NEA. But why the drop in fiction sales? Author Christopher Sorrentino speculated that biographies and self-help books could have a "certain utilitarian appeal." Who wants to spend two weeks reading a novel that you might not like much? he asked Fottrell.