What if you wrote a book and nobody noticed?

Dan Poynter has gathered some fascinating statistics about books, publishing, and reading habits. These are United States figures:

- Nearly 60% of high school students never read another book after graduating.

- Just over 40% of college students never read another book after graduating.

- About 70% of the US adult population has not set foot in a bookstore in the last five years.

While there is wailing among the tech writing world when product documentation is dropped, it seems likely that the average consumer isn't likely to really want to read it anyway. So the trick is to find the balance between provided what's expected (a book) and that which is really used (not a book).

Posted: August 1, 2006 link to this item, Tweet this item, respond to this item