People Don’t Read Anymore. Please Pass the Cyanide.
“The problem is not people who read books for nothing, it’s people not reading books at all. You’re fighting the fact that people don’t read recreationally [any more]. Anything that can help has got to be a good thing.” Neil Gaiman
I like this quote because it bucks the current industry playlist of whine, lament and deny and suggests taking action towards a solution. Good ol’ Neil; he keeps that practicality a coming.
It amazes me that so many articles are written about how book reading is on the decline, that women read more books than men and why and that final nail on the coffin: men don’t read fiction. I’m fascinated because this approach to the problem is exactly why publishing is floundering. The focus is all wrong. The emphasis is on trying to salvage what is widely believed to be the only hope for book buying: catering to women. Why would publishers limit themselves so when the smart thing to do would be to figure out how to use this information to expand their customer base? If your business model requires you to accept and adapt to problems rather than discover how to make those challenges work for you, it’s a flawed system that will leave you naked and vulnerable to the innovators. This is not good.
Where to start… where to start…? Reading is a habit, one that needs to be encouraged. The prevailing thought is to focus on getting children to read, that way they’ll be lifelong readers and forever line our pockets with gold. That’s wishful thinking that forgets to take into consideration one important thing: children are impressionable and model what they know. If a child lives in an environment that doesn’t encourage reading, doesn’t involve anyone in the family opening a book outside of studying, that child will likely not read any more than is required and grow up with that mindset. Consequently, adults should be the target for new business, particularly men. Adults who are avid readers are role models who pass on their love of reading to others. Kids need to be read to and engaged, they need books that interest them and they need to see adults reading for pleasure. You can’t just hand a kid a book, tell him/her to read it and expect an endless pursuit of literature to follow. Habits develop over time. The opportunity to invest is now.
People love stories; they’re a universal standard. But somewhere along the way books have suffered in translation. There’s a stigma, a prejudice about what a book is that keeps many people at bay. This is what the publishing industry should be addressing. Reading needs to be given a cultural makeover; we need to find a way of making it cool on a grand scale, going beyond your mother’s book club and adding some excitement to make it really social and worthy of people’s time. We’ve all heard that it’s almost impossible to expect the masses to read because there are too many distractions, too much competition for a finite amount of free time. BS, people. And you can quote me. Say there are ten recreational things I could be doing for the next half hour and one of them is reading a book. If I love reading and it’s part of my lifestyle, those nine other things won’t matter because I’m going to do what makes me happy: read.
Marketing departments are failing to make connections with the public. Much of the advertising for books takes place in bookstores. Even a campaign like “Get Caught Reading,” which is good in theory, is focused inside libraries. WTF? If these people weren’t already interested in reading they wouldn’t be in these establishments. How is preaching to the converted going to help the cause? Advertising should be in cruise ship and in-flight magazines; they should be in train and bus stations. There should be ads of people reading in buses, trains, taxis and planes. Ads of people reading in waiting rooms, while standing in lines and sitting in hotel lobbies should be etched in bright, flashing neon to encourage the practice of carrying a book throughout the day and enjoying those free moments rather than squandering them. With the right advertising, people can be convinced to do anything; this is why infomercials are so successful. This is also a good start, but who outside the industry would even know this is available? Advertise, advertise, advertise.
Authors can help their sales by thinking big: partnering with national organizations is a great way to get word of mouth attention. If you’ve written a novel where surfing is prominent, see if you can get a review added to surfing newsletters; if you’ve written a legal thriller, work with lawyer associations and see if you can come up with some interesting events- keep in mind that if you go this route you should do so with the intention of making the experience meaningful for the readers, not simply to sell books. People are more likely to read about subjects they already have an interest in- the trick is to convince non-readers that reading about what they already love will enhance their experience. This is especially important for attracting a male readership because they typically like to learn something when they read, get a little extra bang for their buck so to speak. Understanding the needs of your readership will help you make the most of those marketing dollars and focus your time effectively.
Programs like goodreads and dearreader.com are fine for those already interested in reading, but again those who wouldn’t normally turn to books for a good time is the market that needs to be tapped. Adults (especially men) need role models as well. Seeing people they admire (like sports figures, military men, local celebrities) reading could be a way to break the ice, but even better would be providing opportunities for book discussions they find accessible. For many men, book clubs are the equivalent of sitting around in a circle and talking about your feelings. This is a perception issue: content vs. format. It isn’t that men don’t like to talk about things they’ve read, but formality isn’t a big draw. If book clubs were made into games or done in short bursts on the fly the male population will likely respond in kind. Gaming forums anyone, hello? This is how a cultural revolution begins: give people things they want and they will run with them.
