The New Report on the Publishing Industry

Bowker, the company that issues ISBN numbers in the U.S., issued a press release on Tuesday.

The company was touting its "2008 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Report." According to the release, the report is "the first complete consumer-based research report with detailed analysis of who is buying books and what motivates them to make their purchases."

The report also includes first quarter 2009 trends, documenting that mass merchandisers picked up market share while bookstores had the largest decline.

As an example of the kind of info contained in the report, Bowker offered this:

-- 57% of book buyers are women yet women purchase 65% of the books sold in the U.S.
-- Mystery books are the most popular genre for book club sales, with 17% of all purchases of mystery books coming directly from book clubs
-- Generation X consumers buy more books online than any other demographic group, with 30% of them buying their books through the Internet
-- 21% of book buyers said they became aware of a book through some sort of online promotion or ad
-- Women made the majority of the purchases in the paperback, hardcover and audio-book segments, but men accounted for 55% of e-book purchases

Intrigued?

Here's the information on the report's price:

The report can be ordered now by visiting www.bookconsumer.com. Pricing starts at $999 for a single-use PDF or print copy, but the company is offering a 10% discount for orders by July 31, 2009. In addition, members of the news media are entitled to a 50% discount if they are interested in purchasing the report.

Yeah, I'll be lining up for my copy.

Not.