According to a report published by Amy Watson in October of 2019, over 80% of adults, age 18 to 29, have read at least one book in the previous year. See report here.
The number dips down for older adults, possibly because they are not spending as much time studying and more time working. Also, if your eyes are going bad, you are probably reading slightly less.
So really, what does this report mean for print books?
On average, between 67% and 72% of adults aged 30 and up claim to have read at least one book. That’s a lot of readers!
See the graph below which shows adults who have read a book in any format in the last 12 months in the United States in 2019, by age group:
Around 4 of every 5 readers age 18 – 29 are reading at least one book a year.
So whether you pick the traditional publishing route, or are gearing up to self-publish your book, don’t stop writing because there are readers out there waiting for your stories .
