I’ve been out every night this week, speaking about my latest novel, “Twenty-one Truths About Love” to audiences of readers. At each event, a pile of books awaits me, and after I’m finished speaking, the folks who have purchased a book stand in line so that I can sign them.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy seeing my book in the hands of readers. Knowing that the stuff I made up in my head will be entertaining them in the comfort of their own homes is a great, great thing.
Years ago, many predicted the death of the physical book. Digital formats would lay waste to the technology of paper and ink that has persisted for much of human history. The time of authors signing books would sadly come to an end.
Happily, those naysayers were wrong.
A 2017 survey found 92 percent of college students preferred paper books to electronic versions and a 2016 survey of Webster University students found that just 18 percent of students accessed ebooks with any degree of frequency while 42 percent never used them at all.
Sales of books reflect this preference. Publishers of books in all formats made almost $26 billion in revenue in 2018 in the U.S., with print making up $22.6 billion and e-books taking in just $2.04 billion, according to the Association of American Publishers’ annual report 2019.
Happily, the old fashioned print-and-ink book appears to be here to stay.
You should probably buy one today.
May I suggest “Twenty-one Truths About Love?”
