Will books replace Netflix? — RealnoeVremya.com

The book has become more accessible

According to a VTsIOM survey, 57% of Russians read books in the last three months of 2023. This is an absolute record compared to previous periods. For comparison, in 2011, when a similar study was first conducted, only 44% read. But the dynamics are growing by leaps and bounds in terms of the number of books, although in 2023 (six books) more people read than in 2022 (five books). Most of them were read in 2017, when the average number of books read in three months was seven. But there are also alarming figures. In three months of 2023, 40% of respondents had never picked up a book.

Evgeny Kapyev, CEO of Eksmo Publishing House, attributes the dynamics of readership growth to the development of marketplaces and digital book services.

“Previously, literature could only be bought in bookstores. But there were cities, villages and settlements where there were practically no bookstores and the assortment was limited. Marketplaces have given residents of remote corners of our country access to a huge number of books,” Kapyev said.

Alexander Brychkin, general director of the Chitay-Bukvoed retail chain, attributes the growth of the reading audience to the emergence of new formats in which reading time is shorter or reading is combined with other activities.

“These are all kinds of graphic novels: comics, manga, manhwa, manhua, etc. We see that the share of these genres in sales is growing and today it reaches almost 10-12%. This means that there is a growing generation that consumes more of this content in pieces. The second story is audiobooks, which people listen to when it is not possible for them to read printed books. Audiobooks fill the time when a person is driving, playing sports, walking, doing something else. And this is additional consumption that probably affects the statistics,” Brychkin said.

The book is like a sleeping pill

Speaking of formats, according to VTsIOM, print books are still in the lead (58%). 35% read on the phone, 20% prefer to read on the computer, 16% on the tablet, and 2% read print books (environmentalists would not approve of them). Evgeny Kapyev also noted that the number of hours of e-book consumption has increased over the past year. Sergey Anuryev, CEO of LitRes Group of Companies, attributes the growth of e-book reading to the availability of streaming book sites and the simultaneous increase in subscription prices on video platforms.

“Since 2017, subscriptions to film services have become more expensive. The development of the self-publishing segment and the limited growth of subscription prices for e-books and audiobooks have led to the fact that books as a whole have become much more accessible than they were 6-7 years ago. In addition, on the part of the ‘substitute’ there is no such aggressive advertising campaign to promote new TV series and films,” Anuryev added.

In 2023, they most often read for self-development and to learn something new (66%). 54% of respondents read for pleasure and entertainment. They also got acquainted with books through study or work (25%), to fill their time with something (6%), 3% of respondents used reading as a sleep aid. Sergey Anuryev believes that the main motive for reading is still entertainment. He believes that books have become an alternative to Netflix, which has left the Russian market.

Alexander Brychkin doubts that Netflix’s withdrawal caused a sharp transition from one type of content to another. He noted that the jump in the number of readers in Russia occurred between 2014 and 2017. At that time, the number of readers increased by 10%. Then there was growth, but not so significant. Brychkin suggested remembering exactly what events took place in the country, which ultimately led to an increase in the reading audience. Tatyana Gorskaya, the president of the AST-Azbuka publishing group, recalled these events.

“We started a project to promote reading. I must say that at the beginning I did not believe in it. Then there were the first steps towards cooperation with bloggers. But in fact, we, the publishers, for the first time began to communicate directly with our readers. Not through the store and not through wholesalers. We began to talk about books in social networks and about what the reader can expect in a particular work,” said Gorskaya.

The book is an artifact for young people

Konstantin Abramov, General Director of the VTSIOM Foundation, noted that most books (seven) are read by people aged 45-59. However, this is not the largest group of readers. Roughly speaking, if a person between 45 and 59 reads, then he reads a lot. However, there are few readers in this age group. However, the majority of readers (87%) are young people aged 18-24.

Although respondents stated that the main purpose of reading was personal development, fiction was the most popular (61%), followed by nonfiction (33%), non-fiction (31%), philosophical literature and cookbooks (12% each), and religious literature (7%).

Evgeny Kapyev linked the largest reading audience (young people) and the best-selling category (fiction) with the popularity of youth books.

“Young Adult is one of the largest and fastest growing categories. Now every self-respecting publisher has a publishing house with youth literature. There is an interesting point in the VTSIOM data. If the audience in this age group reads more, they buy less. And the beauty of young people is also that they read a lot and buy a lot. According to our data, young people love printed books, and this is the salvation of all publishers. For them it is not just a book, but an artifact,” Evgeny Kapyev summed up.

Of course, VTSIOM does not yet have data for 2024. But the discussion participants are already waiting for statistics because they expect changes in the breakdowns. Whether this will be good or bad, they did not say.

Ekaterina Petrova – literary critic of the online newspaper “Realnoe Vremya”, author of the Telegram channel “Poppy Seed Muffins” (Булочки с маком) and founder of the first online subscription book club Makulatura.

Ekaterina Petrova