If you're a regular reader of this newsletter, you know how I like to encourage business professionals to write books about their areas of expertise. In fact, I've often cited the following quote from the book The Obvious Expert by Elsom and Mark Eldridge:
 
"You see, writing a book is not only the best way, it is the indisputably essential way, to establish your credibility in your field of expertise. Using authorship as a marketing strategy brings you an on-going flow of clients who are deliberately and purposefully seeking you."

But recently I came across some alarming statistics.

On his website. self-publishing guru Dan Poynter reports that 

• 33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

• 42% of college graduates never read another book after college.

• 80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

• 70% of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

• 70% of published books do not make a profit.

Talk about discouraging statistics!

If they're accurate, they may indicate that visual, interactive communications have supplanted the written word. That assertion seems to be supported by another survey, which reports that on a typical day the average American spends four hours watching TV, three hours listening to the radio, and fourteen minutes reading magazines.

I'm concerned about what these statistics mean for our democratic society, whose survival depends on the free exchange of accurate, thoughtful ideas. Rapid-fire TV images that engage the emotions more than the mind may not provide the quality of information necessary for sound decisions. 

I'm also concerned about these statistics on a personal level.

As a ghostwriter, writer, editor, and publisher, I tell people that writing a book is a good idea. But if nobody out there is reading, how can I honestly encourage anyone to write a book?

Recently I turned off the TV long enough to consider this issue. Throughout history, I asked myself, has any significant movement occurred without the aid of a book? I couldn't think of one.

Then I turned the TV back on. And to my pleasant surprise, the news reporter was talking about Mitt Romney's book tour. He must be running for president, the announcer said. You can't run for president without writing a book; it just isn't done.

That was enough to convince me that books are still important. I celebrated by going to a movie.

If you've read this far, your reading habits are considerably above average. That qualifies you to answer the following provocative questions: 

• Do you think books are becoming less important?

• Can you name a significant movement in history that occurred without the empowering influence of a book? 

• Have you read a book since college?
  

• Did you read a book IN college?
  

In the February issue of The Write Stuff, I cited a case where bad writing was actually a good thing, at least from my perspective. Well, it happened again.

This month I received the following e-mail: