What Were We Buying? Examining Non-fiction and Narrative Non-fiction Reading Patterns in the 2000s

Authors

  • Jan Zwar Macquarie University

Keywords:

Australian literature, Australian publishing, narrative non-fiction, creative non-fiction, Nielsen BookScan, readerships, reading patterns

Abstract

During the 2000s there was considerable discussion about whether Australian book readers were turning in large numbers from fiction to non-fiction genres. This paper contributes empirical research to ‘half’ of the discussion: analysis of Nielsen BookScan (NB) non-fiction sales data from 2003-2008 to identify non-fiction sales trends, and more specifically, narrative non-fiction reading patterns. These findings provide a rare snapshot of Australian book-buying patterns after the introduction of NB and before the widespread popularity of online retail sites in the late 2000s and, more recently, ebook sales.

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Published

2013-04-03

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 3 (2012): Philosophy, Canonicity, Reading

Section

Articles

License

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How to Cite

What Were We Buying? Examining Non-fiction and Narrative Non-fiction Reading Patterns in the 2000s. (2013). Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 12(3). https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/JASAL/article/view/9835