News & Trends: Fast Stats

62.4 million
Estimated number of avid book readers—those who read five or more hours per week—ages 18 years or older in the United States, or about 28 percent of the 18-plus U.S. population. Avid readers purchase 10-plus books per year; 63 percent of them are women.
Source: "2010 Survey of Book-Buying Behavior With Verso Digital," presented at American Booksellers Association Day of Education at BookExpo America, May 2010

94%
Percentage of audiobook listeners who had read a book in the past year versus 70 percent of non-audiobook listeners, according to the Audio Publishers Association (APA). "Audiobook listeners are avid readers who use audiobooks as a way of enjoying an author's work when they are not able to read," reported the APA of the statistic.

350,000
Number of copies "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella," part of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight Saga," sold within the first 48 hours of release. The previous "Twilight" release, "Breaking Dawn," sold 1.3 million copies on its first day of release in 2008. "Bree Tanner" also was available online for free between June 7 and July 5, which some industry experts have pointed to as one reason for lower initial sales of the novella compared to her prior books.
Source: DailyFinance.com, June 10, 2010

50%
Percentage of New York Times best-sellers that are ghostwritten today, according to Marcia Layton Turner, a ghostwriter and author who recently launched the Association of 
Ghostwriters.