# Interesting Infographic About Ebook Readers



## Scarlett_R (Sep 30, 2011)

Got this off Mashable. I love infographics.


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## williamvw (Mar 12, 2012)

Great infographic, but where are the data source citations?


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

There's a lot of interesting stats in this study, like 30% of people stop reading by page 50 and only 4% of people read entire sample chapters:

http://mashable.com/2012/08/26/reading-stats-infographic/


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## AnnMHammond (Aug 9, 2012)

Huh, interesting.

Although I don't always finish reading sample chapters and/or buy the book; I ALWAYS finish a book once I have started it. 

Page 50 seems pretty far in! Crazy people


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Pretty neat.


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## Eric C (Aug 3, 2009)

No info on how the data were gathered? I know Amazon didn't cooperate!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Eric C said:


> No info on how the data were gathered? I know Amazon didn't cooperate!


I noticed one thing that, IIRC, matched the Smashwords study earlier this year, about 99 cent books selling at 12x and $3.99 maximizing revenue.


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## Scarlett_R (Sep 30, 2011)

LOL I posted the same thing earlier today 

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,124391.0.html


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## Not Here Anymore (May 16, 2012)

Love infographics! Wish they had broken it down into a mystery category as well as romance and sci fi.


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## JGreen20 (Jul 10, 2012)

Eric C said:


> No info on how the data were gathered? I know Amazon didn't cooperate!


I can't say how they gathered the information for this infographic in particular. But if you visit Hiptype's website, they explain how they do it. They don't need Amazon because they use a plugin that publishers include in their books to collect data:

_We've designed a plugin that publishers can add to their eBooks to gain valuable insights about how to make their books better for readers and more successful in bookstores.
Hiptype provides detailed insights such as the sections of the book that readers engage with most and least, and a book's popularity among various audience demographics._


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## DB Boyer (Apr 17, 2012)

williamvw said:


> Great infographic, but where are the data source citations?


The graphic states that the info was complied by hiptype from e-reader users.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Am I the only person who really doesn't like the idea of someone sneaking hidden software into an ebook to trace my reading habits?  Sure, it's no big deal in the scheme of things if they know that I read a book in one sitting or gave up on Jane Doe's book at the end of chapter one.  It's the principal of the thing though.  Sure, I expect Amazon to do it on a Kindle, Apple on iBooks and B&N on a Nook - but some random publisher who hides software in their book?  Plus - how do they get all the personal data on the people, such as age/location?

Doesn't this fall foul of privacy laws or something?

Edited to add:  I checked the website and it says that their policy is to have warnings within the ebooks that the software is being used and to provide readers with an opt out.  I'd still worry about this sort of thing though.  After all, if someone can do it officially with warnings - what's to stop someone less scrupulous doing it without them?  Or doing something even less ethical?  I'd prefer an ebook to just be an ebook - not a trojan.


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## Jenmills (Feb 22, 2012)

You're not the only one, I find the privacy concerns troubling too. 

It's one thing for companies to add "analytics" to free services like gmail, because data collection is how the service makes its money. But since I've paid for the kindle, and for the books, I don't think it's too much to ask that I should be able to read them without a bunch of companies looking over my shoulder and skimming a bunch of usage data. Personal information, including usage patterns is worth big bucks. If a company wants my data, they can either pay me fairly for it, or compensate me by providing a free service.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Hi folks. . .good topic. . . for EVERYBODY.   So I merged a couple of similar threads and moved the whole thing to the Book Corner.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Zelah Meyer said:


> Am I the only person who really doesn't like the idea of someone sneaking hidden software into an ebook to trace my reading habits? Sure, it's no big deal in the scheme of things if they know that I read a book in one sitting or gave up on Jane Doe's book at the end of chapter one. It's the principal of the thing though. Sure, I expect Amazon to do it on a Kindle, Apple on iBooks and B&N on a Nook - but some random publisher who hides software in their book? Plus - how do they get all the personal data on the people, such as age/location?
> 
> Doesn't this fall foul of privacy laws or something?
> 
> Edited to add: I checked the website and it says that their policy is to have warnings within the ebooks that the software is being used and to provide readers with an opt out. I'd still worry about this sort of thing though. After all, if someone can do it officially with warnings - what's to stop someone less scrupulous doing it without them? Or doing something even less ethical? I'd prefer an ebook to just be an ebook - not a trojan.


You do know TVs have similar devices that track what you're watching? How else do you think they get rating reports?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

history_lover said:


> You do know TVs have similar devices that track what you're watching? How else do you think they get rating reports?


Not sure how it is in the UK, but in the US, as I understand it, if you're a "Neilsen family", yes, you have a device that reports. But you would know it if you were. Not everyone has the device; those who do are not supposed to share with even close friends that they have the device and the Neilsen people extrapolate from the data they get from the sample of Neilsen families. They don't put it on your set secretly; someone in the household knows it's there. At least, that's how it used to work. . . . . .it's quite possible that with the cable companies mostly delivering tv content nowadays that much of the anonymous data they collect is used to create the ratings and such.

As to this "Hip-type" thing. . . . I only get books from Amazon, and always start at the front page. I'm pretty sure I've never seen an 'opt out' of data collection notice. . . which says to me that it's not been present in the book. I'll definitely pay closer attention in the future. I'm certain it's not a 'pop up'.

I'm kind of feeling like it might only be on books sold through other outlets that don't have their own data collection and such like. Amazon clearly has it's own data collection methods. . . . .

It's also apparently fairly new -- the copyright on the page is July 2012.

Might be worth sending an email to Amazon/Kindle feedback and ask if books sold through Amazon might have such a thing.


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## leep (Aug 25, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Not sure how it is in the UK


Same way as I understand it, a household has a device installed that records what they're watching and reports back, they know how many devices are installed so multiple up the results from their survey group to the size of the population.


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## JGreen20 (Jul 10, 2012)

Zelah Meyer said:


> Am I the only person who really doesn't like the idea of someone sneaking hidden software into an ebook to trace my reading habits? Sure, it's no big deal in the scheme of things if they know that I read a book in one sitting or gave up on Jane Doe's book at the end of chapter one. It's the principal of the thing though. Sure, I expect Amazon to do it on a Kindle, Apple on iBooks and B&N on a Nook - but some random publisher who hides software in their book? Plus - how do they get all the personal data on the people, such as age/location?
> 
> Doesn't this fall foul of privacy laws or something?
> 
> Edited to add: I checked the website and it says that their policy is to have warnings within the ebooks that the software is being used and to provide readers with an opt out. I'd still worry about this sort of thing though. After all, if someone can do it officially with warnings - what's to stop someone less scrupulous doing it without them? Or doing something even less ethical? I'd prefer an ebook to just be an ebook - not a trojan.


Yes, there are laws about it. They have to notify you about data collection and let you opt-out.


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## Not Here Anymore (May 16, 2012)

I don't like the idea of companies tracking my reading/viewing habits either. I'm sure that even if you're not a Neilson household, the local cable company is collecting data off DVRs to track what people watch, at least on a local level. I can't image that they'd pass up the opportunity to check out our viewing habits. 

I think the possibility of tracking reading habits is one of the few drawbacks to ereaders. Don't like that that aspect, but I love everything else about them!


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

According to Wikipedia, "As of 2012[update], the United States has a total resident population of 314,242,000,[1] making it the third most populous country in the world.[2] It is a very urbanized population, with 82% residing in cities and suburbs as of 2008 (the worldwide urban rate is 50.5%[3])." If 82% of Americans life in cities or suburbs, then 82% of readers of e-books living in cities looks like a non-statistic. I'm assuming that they are counting suburbs as cities. Without context, that statistic of 82% of readers living in cities is meaningless. It seems to imply that people living in cities are more likely to read e-books, but we can't infer that.

The more I look, the less sense I can make of these stats. $0.99 books sell 12 times more... 12 times more than what? Books that cost $7.99 are read 5 times more, again, compared to what?

The average best seller is 375 pages, but those under 40 read books that are on average 146 pages, while those over 40 read books that are on average 277 pages. Both of these are far shorter than 375 pages. A possible explanation would be that both groups are reading books that are a lot shorter than the length of best sellers, but that seems like an awfully large deviation from the length of best sellers.

They have literature as the biggest grossing category of books, I'd be curious what they mean by literature.


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## JGreen20 (Jul 10, 2012)

QuantumIguana said:


> They have literature as the biggest grossing category of books, I'd be curious what they mean by literature.


I'd like to know what they mean by literature too. It made me feel confused because in Spanish -my mother tongue- literature is not a category, is a general word that includes many categories.

Anybody can help here?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

By "literature" I think they're talking the "literary novel" which is basically a novel that can't be pigeon-holed into some other specific genre and almost always has some underlying message or theme.  Some consider it a 'higher form' than a genre novel -- I don't know that I'd agree with that.  There are some threads around here on what exactly constitutes a "literary novel". . . . .I think there are as many nuances as there are posters to the threads!


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## JGreen20 (Jul 10, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> By "literature" I think they're talking the "literary novel" which is basically a novel that can't be pigeon-holed into some other specific genre and almost always has some underlying message or theme. Some consider it a 'higher form' than a genre novel -- I don't know that I'd agree with that. There are some threads around here on what exactly constitutes a "literary novel". . . . .I think there are as many nuances as there are posters to the threads!


Thanks Ann.


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## mestrin (Aug 27, 2012)

"Women are 50% more likely to finish a book than men."
That's an eye-popping stat.
Assuming the data is solid (I wish there were citations), I've got to say that I'm really surprised by the gender gap there. 
Honestly, I would have guessed that finishing had more to do with age.
When I was a kid, I always finished a book, even if it wasn't for school. There were books that I really disliked, but I would finish because I guess I just didn't want to quit. Maybe I was a little insecure, thinking that not finishing meant that _I couldn't finish._ Or maybe I was just more optimistic then, thinking _it'll get better_.
But when I entered my 30s, I had a small realization. Reading books that I wasn't fond of tends to slow down my reading. Reading one book I didn't like could take up a month or more, and at the same time I was denying myself the ability to read books I did like during that period.
Maybe I'm older and wiser (that would be nice, wouldn't it) but it's taken me a long time to be able to not finish a book. And honestly, I still feel bad when I give up on a book. I just don't care so much about feeling that way because I know that doing so gives me the chance to pick up something I might really love.


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## Lensman (Aug 28, 2012)

Sara Rosett said:


> I don't like the idea of companies tracking my reading/viewing habits either. I'm sure that even if you're not a Neilson household, the local cable company is collecting data off DVRs to track what people watch, at least on a local level. I can't image that they'd pass up the opportunity to check out our viewing habits.
> 
> I think the possibility of tracking reading habits is one of the few drawbacks to ereaders. Don't like that that aspect, but I love everything else about them!


I'm not that bothered - is it any different to a book-store recording what sells and what doesn't? When Amazon keeps track of what I buy, it means the suggestions it throws my way tend to be closer to what interests me. It doesn't mean I have to accept their ideas.


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## Michael Cavacini (Aug 2, 2010)

This is fascinating. Thanks for sharing.


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## Not Here Anymore (May 16, 2012)

Lensman said:


> I'm not that bothered - is it any different to a book-store recording what sells and what doesn't? When Amazon keeps track of what I buy, it means the suggestions it throws my way tend to be closer to what interests me. It doesn't mean I have to accept their ideas.


True, but I wonder what else Amazon uses the data for besides book recommendations...do they sell it to third parties? I have no idea, but remember the FB tracking dust-up a while back when FB was tracking people even when they weren't logged into FB (using the FB "like" buttons, which are on most webpages). I'm just a little leery, I guess. Love the quote in your signature line, by the way! One of my favs.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

AnnMHammond said:


> Huh, interesting.
> 
> Although I don't always finish reading sample chapters and/or buy the book; I ALWAYS finish a book once I have started it.
> 
> Page 50 seems pretty far in! Crazy people


No, Page 50 sounds about right to me. I almost always give a book a decent chance before putting it aside.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

The figures on session length surprised me. I can't imagine pulling out my Kindle with twelve minutes to read... And since that is average session length, many sessions by under forty readers will be shorter! 

I am also a bit wary of how these figures were gathered. 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## Seleya (Feb 25, 2011)

I can't imagine _not_ pulling out my Kindle with twelve minutes available for reading.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Seleya said:


> I can't imagine _not_ pulling out my Kindle with twelve minutes available for reading.


Those times are when I pull out my smart phone and check out KB or other parts of the internet....


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## Seleya (Feb 25, 2011)

Ah, that's the difference! No smartphone here.


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