Young Adult Books Attract Growing Numbers of Adult Fans
“Although best sellers lead, there’s a long tail of rich reading that has interesting implications for the publishers of YA books in terms of discovery and consumer relationships,” said project editor Kristen McLean.
The trend is good news for publishers as these adult consumers of YA books are among the most coveted demographic of book consumers overall. Additional insights from the Bowker study show these readers are:
• Early adopters. More than 40 percent read e-books, equivalent to the highest adoption rates of adult genres of mystery and romance
• Committed: 71 percent say that if an e-book of their desired title was unavailable, they would buy the print book instead
• Loyal: Enjoying the author's previous books has a moderate or major influence over the book choice for more than two-thirds of the respondents
• Socially active: Although more than half of respondents reported having "no interest" in participating in a reading group, these readers are very active in social networks and often get recommendations from friends.