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The U.S. is second only to China on the list of countries that publish the most books each year. But how much do Americans actually read? In this post, we’ll explore how much time Americans spend reading, how they prefer to read, and what the current trends tell us about the future. How Many Hours a Day Do Americans Read? According to data from Statista , between 2018–2020, Americans spent an average of 20.4 minutes reading each day. Of the groups studied: Adults over the age of 65 read the most, with those over 75 in particular averaging almost an hour per day. By contrast, minors and young adults ages 15–19 read the least, averaging just 8.4 minutes per day. How Many Books Do Americans Read Per Year? According to 2019 data from the Pew Research Center , Americans read an average of 12 books per year , while the typical (median) American has read four books in the past 12 months. This means that half have read less than four, and half have read more. It’s worth noting t...

Of all the issues people debate about today, you’d be surprised that sentence spacing is among the fiercest controversies, to the point that researchers felt it needed to be studied . One side believes that using only one space after a period is the correct way. On the other hand, the opposition thinks it needs to be two. But which of them is correct? Or is this a classic case of potato, potahto ? How Many Spaces Go After a Period? When in doubt, always use one space after a period. The majority of word processors recognize this as the correct way. Also, almost all of the most used style guides advise this, including: APA Style  by the American Psychological Association (used in scholarly writing) MLA Handbook  by the Modern Language Association (also used in scholarly writing) Associated Press Stylebook by the Associated Press (used in journalism and corporate communication) The Chicago Manual of Style  by the University of Chicago (used in publishing) The M...

Poetry is an art that offers unlimited creative freedom. You can write a poem on literally anything, using the form, length, and style of your choice. But with all that freedom, you may end up with choice paralysis, a common cause of writer’s block (er… poet’s block?). So to help you get started, we’re giving you 50 poetry prompts that should offer you some direction so you can win the battle against the blank page. Poetry Prompts Here are 50 poetry prompts you can use as inspiration to start writing your next poem. Note that you can modify any of these as you see fit, and each one is open for your creative interoperation. (For example, if a prompts says “Write a poem about the color blue,” you can write a poem about how much you love or hate the color blue, or about a pair of blue eyes, or the ocean, etc.) 1. Write a poem based on a recent dream you’ve had. Try to reproduce the sensations of the dream. 2. Write about whatever you see outside your window right now. 3. Write a...

When it comes to self-publishing, the platform that immediately comes to mind is most likely Amazon Kindle. And while it’s true that Amazon remains the dominant force in the digital publishing world, it’s far from the only option. Apple offers a plethora of resources to help authors write, publish, market, and sell their ebooks and audiobooks on Apple Books. In this post, we’ll take a look at some of their top features and benefits of using their services. What Is Apple Publishing? As of May 2020, Apple Books (formerly iBooks) remains Amazon’s top competitor, making up just under 10% of the US ebook market (Amazon, in comparison, dominates over 80%). Using Apple’s word processor, Pages , authors can create books and publish them directly to the Apple Books store. Similar to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Pages allows authors to customize virtually every aspect of their books, including the cover, price, tags, and pre-order availability, among other things. Apple P...

Talent and skill are two words that are often used interchangeably, but there is one key difference between them: the way they’re acquired. You’re born with certain talents, whereas you can learn and master any number of skills. This might not seem like a very significant distinction, but when it comes to finding the best career path, improving your performance, or even making hiring decisions, it’s important to understand the difference. Talent vs. Skill The primary difference between talent and skill is that talent is something you’re born with , whereas a skill can be learned . Yet, despite dictionaries like Merriam Webster making that distinction clear, many of us still use these words interchangeably. For example: Maria is a very talented writer. Maria is a very skilled writer. Both sentences are grammatically correct, but there are important distinctions between talent and skill. If Maria has an innate talent for writing, she’ll be good at it even if she has no prior...

Just a few decades ago, if you wanted to stay up to date on the latest news and trends in your industry, you’d subscribe to a trade publication or journal, which would be delivered to you in print form (and usually for a fee). Today, things are much easier. You can subscribe to email newsletters and get the latest, most important news neatly wrapped up and delivered straight to your inbox, usually for free. In this post, we’ll show you 13 of the best publishing newsletters that offer important updates and insightful features for publishing professionals, authors, and readers. Publishing Industry Newsletters These publishing newsletters offer news updates and insights on everything concerning the publishing industry, including sales trends, mergers, and more. Publishers, authors, agents, and others in the industry can learn a lot from these newsletters. 1. Publishers Lunch Publishers Lunch is the newsletter of Publishers Marketplace, the “biggest dedicated marketplace for publish...

Despite the thousands upon thousands of ebooks available in the Kindle store, you may not always find the particular title you’re looking for, so you turn to another retailer, like Barnes & Noble, for your ebook. Or, maybe you once used a Nook e-reader and now want to transfer your Nook ebooks to a Kindle device. In either case, you might be able to get the ebooks you want, but Kindle is very particular about formats and it’s virtually impossible to read books from retailers other than Amazon. Fortunately, there’s a solution. Calibre is a software that allows you to convert dozens of file types and easily transfer ebooks from your files to your Kindle device, regardless of where you got those ebooks. In this post, we’ll show you how to do just that so you can enjoy all your favorite ebooks in one place. What Is Calibre? Calibre is a free, open-source ebook management software that allows you to organize your ebook library, convert ebooks, and sync them with a variety of e-re...

How would you like to attend book club discussions hosted by some of the world’s most influential leaders and celebrities? Literati , an online book club subscription service, lets you get pretty close by allowing you to join the virtual book clubs of leaders like Richard Branson, Malala, and Stephen Curry. In this post, we’ll explain how Literati works and what features it offers so you can decide if this book club subscription is worth it for you. How Does the Literati Book Club Work? Each month, one of Literati’s 13 “Luminaries” chooses a book for members to read. Subscribers can choose which Luminary’s virtual book club they want to join each month, and can access the discussions for all 13 clubs. Pricing One thing that makes Literati different from other book subscription services is that readers do not have to get the book of the month through Literati. Subscribers have the option of acquiring the month’s book on their own, which they might get from their library or from ...

Literature offers us a vast pool of knowledge and entertainment, but the literary world can also be quite weird and wonderful. We never realize that there are stories also revolving around the stories we read, whether it’s the adventures our favorite authors undergo while writing them or the events these works encounter throughout their time in print. I decided to see if I could find some of the small but cool details that involve various literary works. Some of these you might know, while some you might be shocked to find out about. Did You Know? I’ve assembled a list of anecdotes and little-known facts that involve some of the world’s most beloved authors and literary works. Check out the real stories behind some of your favorite stories. Challenge your literary knowledge or use them to entertain your friends and family on the next game night! What is the title of the world’s first ever novel? A. Le Morte d’Arthur B. The Tales of Genji C. Robinson Crusoe 2. Who is the f...