Reading challenge
On tuning in, market push and pull, and the need for popular demand for good stories
A majority of American adults picked up a book last year, but according to a Pew survey, a Pew Research survey, many of the others only read a handful.
■ Putting aside the lamentations for a moment, there’s a really interesting question lurking just beneath the surface: What kinds of books are not being published right now that would entice more people to read them? What would it take to motivate the 52% who read three books or fewer to read just one more this year than last?
■ If an entertainment product has extremely low penetration with 52% of the market, then you have to spend at least a little bit of time asking how much of that is a supply problem.
■ How much of this is a content problem? People will practically crawl over broken glass to get to really great content.
■ How much of this is a modality problem? Are people missing out because they aren’t exposed to audiobooks, e-readers, or phone/tablet-friendly formats?
■ How much of this is an authorship problem? One might think that in the era of “parasocial” relationships with “influencers”, time spent with the right authors would be attractive.
■ How much of this is a style problem? Too many books are too long -- do we need a better booklet/pamphlet economy?
■ There are probably nearly as many reasons why some people don’t read books as there are reasons why others do. We should steer clear of fetishizing any activity, but of all possible leisure activities, reading surely must rank towards the top of the list. Figuring out why it’s passing so many Americans by would be a tremendous service.