That's a conclusion but it's not the only one. It's possible that there are
the same number of readers, but because of the number of books now
available, there are fewer sales of individual titles. I think it's a bit of
both.
Al
----- Original Message -----
From: "jacquesdebierue" <jacquesdebierue@yahoo.com>
> --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Allan Guthrie" <allan@...> wrote:
>>
>> That's true, but it also applies to traditional publishing. You might be
>> surprised how many titles from big NY publishers sell in the low
>> hundreds.
>>
>
> This, to my mind, points to a substantial reduction in the number of real
> readers (not people who can theoretically read, but people who read
> regularly). The Spanish publishing industry, which is huge, is grappling
> with this phenomenon. Selling five thousand copies is considered a huge
> success these days, according to what I hear. That is, for a reading
> market of 400 million people! Most authors, of course, have a serious day
> job, either as journalists or in other jobs.
>
> So it's not particularly a US phenomenon, it's worldwide.
>
> Best,
>
> mrt
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