Industry's Most Comprehensive Report calls 2010 a 'Perfect Storm' of Challenges to U.S. Book Market

The report also explores how books are competing with other forms of entertainment for the consumer dollar. While steady declines were seen in book buying in the first three quarters of 2010, purchases bounced back in the fourth quarter, with 51% of book buyers saying the economy had no impact on their book buying - the highest percentage in two years. Among book buyers, reading books continues to place in the top three forms of media entertainment (along with communicating online through email or IM and surfing the web). However, reading as a pastime continues to decline: the percentage of book buyers who reported reading a book at least once a week fell to 57%, down from 59% in 2009.

Despite the industry's dizzying pace of change, the report identifies a variety of consistencies in the demographics of book buyers: women dominate purchasing across all genres, Baby Boomers are the top buying generation and fiction continues to form the backbone of the industry sales.

2010-11 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Review includes more than 100 pages of data and analysis including a rich summary of insights followed by demographic data on America's book buyers, what types of books they buy and where they buy them, along with insight into what motivates their purchases. The changing nature of format and the impact of e-books are explored by defining the demographics of the e-book buyer. The report also includes a detailed look at book production statistics.

Information was gathered through PubTrack^TM Consumer's nationally representative annual panel of nearly 40,000 U.S. book-buying men, women, and teens. The 2010 panel was built by monthly/ /recruiting of book buyers who completed surveys about their book purchasing behavior during the previous month.

The report is available now by visiting www.bookconsumer.com. Pricing starts at $999 for a single-use PDF or print copy. Members of the news media can purchase at a 30% discount. Print copies are being manufactured on demand by Ingram Content Group's Lightning Source, the global leader in print on demand book manufacturing and distribution.