84 Percent of Literary Internet Readers Are Reading Books

On the same day that the National Endowment for the Arts released some encouraging news about the future of books and the Internet, a major digital bookseller is celebrating a one-year anniversary.

Over one year ago, Fictionwise purchased its former rival in the e-book business, eReader–adding 23,000 titles to a growing list. Studying the new market for digital books, the NEA revealed today that “Eighty-four percent of adults who read literature (fiction, poetry, or drama) on or downloaded from the Internet also read books, whether print or online… Nearly 15 percent of all U.S. adults read literature online in 2008.”

Analyzing these new trends in reading, TeleRead has an excellent essay looking at digital book developments during the first year of the Fictionwise/e-Reader merger.

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