Image courtesy of St. Louise Public Library
Short Books and Articles Are Popular
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
For
several years now I’ve noticed that writers have been having a more difficult
time getting their works published. Published
friends and I have shopped our work around and discovered that publishing
houses, even small presses, strongly favor commercial works. (It’s always been this way, but it’s worse now.)
I figured E-books and self-published
writers have cut into the print market and publishers are making less money.
I didn’t realize until recently that there’s
another side to the situation, which is that the taste of readers have changed
significantly. Readers are buying fewer hardcopy books. They are not only reading
fewer books, but they prefer shorter books and articles to read (physical
books and E-books). If you click around online, you will discover sites
like: “50 short books for busy people” or “46 brilliant short novels you can
read in a day” or “the best short books you’ll ever read.”
The pace of things seem quicker now.
People want instant gratification. They want to order things online; they don’t
like waiting. If they can download information, so much the better; if they can
view things online, fine. People’s attention span seems shorter as
they’ve become used to short tweets and brief interactions via social media. Further,
there is stiff competition online for people’s attention. I have spoken to millennials
who confess to not reading books. They are too busy, they say. I see them glued
to their cell phones, and yes, they are reading something at all times, but it’s
probably their email or social media.
I was also surprised to discover that
graphic novels and comics are quite popular, even for adults. We are talking
about pictures and illustrations and not words that tell the story primarily.
Trends are constantly changing but these are my recent observations about reading and publishing trends.
Popular Now!!!
Not Popular Now!!!
Tags: Publishing, books, trends, literature, graphic novels, readers, popular
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