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By Joe Wikert

[Editors note: this is from Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog. PB] … I received an e-mail with a press release attached from Publishing Trends. The announcement summarized a publishing industry survey they recently conducted. Although they’re promising to provide more details on both their main site and blog, I have yet to find anything other than the summary included in the press release.

The survey was sent to “several thousand publishers, agents, editors, booksellers, and individuals in related business, and received a double-digit response rate that included comments and opinions on a wide variety of topics.” Here are the nuggets included in the release:

* 48% of respondents get most of their publishing news from the Internet, followed by trade magazines (24%). 59% are on Facebook.
* 36% say the main threat facing the industry is people purchasing fewer books. “I feel like books are a dying commodity. I wish more people read,” wrote one agent.
* 54% of respondents read book and media blogs regularly, up from 31% last year. 11% are bloggers themselves.
* 82% of respondents think publishing jobs are less secure than they were a year ago. Many have watched their companies enact cost-cutting measures, including hiring freezes, “claustrophobic expense control,” and decreased bonuses.
* When asked where they’ll be in five years, 26% of respondents answered, “I’m not sure yet . . . depends on how the election goes.” And as befits the “mainstream media,” 85% are voting for Barack Obama in November.

On the plus side, I’m impressed that such a large percentage of us are on Facebook. Perhaps everyone feels the need to do more networking in the midst of a challenging economic climate. The rate of blog readers is also growing nicely, although I wish more would jump in and start blogging too; 11% is a pathetic rate folks!

I’m curious to see more of the results on Publishing Trends as I imagine you are too…

 
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