My wife came across this interesting graphic showing what an average American family spends on what per year. You will notice that, in a society that has largely abandoned smoking, people still spend 0.7% of their income on tobacco and only 0.2% on reading! And we writers wonder why we can't make a living. From now on, I'm offering a free packet of Camel Filters with every copy of my book.
You will also notice folks spend 0.9% on booze. Could it be that people are drinking so much that they forget to read? Still, that's just a little more than $38 per month on booze. Are we becoming a nation of non-drinking, non-reading lightweights? What would Papa Hemingway say?
I know I'm ready for a little 0.9% right about now.
I like that idea - free pack of fags with the next book. Wonder what sort of non P.C. outcry you'de get though? Fantastic free advertising would go with that though..... :-)
ReplyDeleteWow, kind of a shocking statistics when you compare books to tobacco...and I always thought reading was addictive:)
ReplyDeleteActually, that .2 percent spent on reading is probably generous. But it maybe it includes reading the labels on the rum bottles and the warnings on the cigarette packs. :)
ReplyDeleteDidn't know I was saving that much on tobacco. And considering how the only apparel I bought in the last year is a chamois shirt, long johns, and a pair of sneakers, that's even more booty for books.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to increase the nicotine level in books? That tactic seems to have worked like gangbusters for the tobacco industry.
ReplyDelete