How many people are avid fiction readers, really?

The only Slav spec fic I can think of is Roadside Picnic and Metro. And I don’t know of those because of bookweb!

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If you want things to happen, fast, and weirdly, Giglamesh has the godess Ishtar send a bull of heaven to kill the guy who dare reject her romantic advances. It’s kind of hilarious in a way.

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I mean…nobody even speaks what languages they spoke in Ur anymore, so…

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Legit? I’ve read more than I’ve written, by years or volume. I’d have to take off like JK Rowling or similar, if I wanted to keep up with my reading volume…other than last year. It’s not a joke to estimate that I’ve read thousands of books: wouldn’t be surprised if I hit the 10K mark within my lifetime.

Got to understand, those that read light reads, even a slow reader, are going to pile up the numbers pretty quickly. The more difficult, the more that narrows down. So, something I find difficult? Maybe 10 book in my life, and the Bible doesn’t count on that list. (I don’t find that difficult.)

But I’m an anomaly–not necessarily HERE because no matter my age, a forum like this is where I’m amongst my actual peers. Most of us are avid readers and writers. But still, an anomaly because they have statistics on functional illiteracy.

It’s funny. My father isn’t a big reader, especially not fiction, but he was told something in college: if you don’t read something, you might as well be illiterate. Harsh, yes, but we’re talking '80s college. There wasn’t mercy for things like dyslexia or the like.

But it stuck with him: not using what you have is a waste. Most people aren’t raised with that attitude. I was. Problem is I’m also a “Jack of All Trades, Master of None”…I literally cannot persue everything within my grasp, I’d never sleep.

Anyway, the point is that most people don’t read enough to support all the aspiring talent out there. Its why you can’t write with that being your only goal.

I’m going to dig up some numbers real quick…

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So, the response shows more favorably than I expected. This is why some writers can make it. Lol

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You need to pay to see the full chart

I read a little over a hundred books a year if only to win the Goodreads Challenge, but those are all mostly adult bestsellers and litfic. I don’t read YA at all anymore, so I can’t really participate in any of the book threads here since everyone else seems to read only YA or NA, and I don’t read those. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

I suspect there are a LOT of avid readers in the world, but those readers likely only read traditionally published books, not Wattpad books or self-published indies. Look at how popular various celebrity clubs are, like Oprah’s, Reese’s, Emma Watson’s, and those fashion models’ clubs. None of those clubs ever recommend indies or Wattpad books. We’re just so insulated here in this forum. The real world’s a lot bigger, grasshopper. Just because writers here don’t read books doesn’t mean no one does. And most of the world’s readers don’t read on Wattpad. Real readers buy books or get them from the library.

I may be wrong, but I’m guessing the total number of self-published writers out there is probably pretty close to the number of people who sign this petition, and there aren’t even 50k of those yet. The number of readers in the world is in the millions, if not the billions.

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Was more worried about the general for now.

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I just put up with YA/NA. Some of what I write would fit in, but not all of it. Hell, I’m reading the Mangas because I want some brainlessness right now.

Even then, I’m picking up on some Korean cultural makes that don’t make sense to the US, by reading them.

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I love books about Korean culture, but only when they’re books meant for adults, like If I Had Your Face. Though I admit, I love silly mangas too. Sometimes you just need brain candy. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

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It’s really funny when they decide to write one with “the superiority of capitalism”. I get it. South Korea’s lights are on, while the North is dark. They have reasons for touting the superiority of their local interests, but I know that part has got to confuse kids closer to here, given that their indoctrination goes against half our indoctrination’s grain.

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There are definitely more readers than writers out there. It just makes sense as reading is low effort (you can do it anywhere and it doesn’t require a lot of mental energy for most people) while writing is high effort (you need to actually sit down, focus, and make it make sense). It might seem the other way in the circles we run in, because everyone there are writers but the readers are out there. They’re just too busy reading to interact with authors a lot of the time :joy:

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I’m the weird one here.

I rather write than read fiction. Mainly because I literally have to will myself to physically read a book. Like I want to read physical books more, but my mind gets cluttered along with feeling absolute boredom from reading.

I can listen to audiobooks, but I hate paying for Audible and finding a certain audiobook is like a chore that rather not do.

So, if I do read, it has to be helpful non-fiction that aids in your writing.
Overall, reading fiction is a challenge for me. I just wanna write and enjoy myself writing.

You can tell me “maybe you haven’t found the right book”, but it is all the same to me.
I understand that as writer you MUST read plenty of books, yet how can I read books when I can’t even visualize when I read.

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I suppose you’ve tried LibriVox?

https://librivox.org/

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Nope. I never even heard of that site.

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You may or may not like the books, but at least all their books are free! ٩(˘◡˘)۶

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Are there any fantasy and science-fiction books there or is all non-fiction or other types of fiction?

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This is what came up for me when I searched for fantasy, and this list seems to be fantasy and science fiction mixed together. Alas, I can’t figure out how to sort it. Argh. (>▂<)

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I just seen the different fantasy and science-fiction. Those are some old and interesting titles.

Still, I can appreciate that you were willing to show me a free audiobook site. I am just wondering if I will be able to enjoy the books. Oh, well, better see which one is to my liking.

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Oooh, maybe this will be more useful:

Anyway, hope you find some good free audiobooks somewhere! ヽ(^。^)丿

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