In a presentation at the U.S. Book Show on June 3, OverDrive’s founder and CEO, Steve Potash, addressed how publishers can thrive in a market where the act of reading appears to be under siege. As Potash said, the consumption of social and short-form digital media continues to surge, while the average monthly minutes spent by adults and young adults reading long-form content continues to decline. What, then, are publishers to do?
In a thought-provoking perspective aimed at helping authors, publishers, and booksellers examine how practices from other consumer products can be applied to growing the market for books, Potash outlined possible solutions based on R&D, significant data accumulated from OverDrive’s Libby and Sora apps, and billions of reading sessions from its collective network of thousands of public, school, academic, and corporate library partners.
The stark reality, as Potash said in his opener, is that the average consumer minutes spent each month on book consumption have been in decline for decades. These trends are evident not only in the U.S. but also in the German publishing and bookselling market, as Potash shared. He relayed findings from the Sora reading app that academic outcomes are best served when a school can provide each of its students with the “right book, at the right time, for the right reason.” The ability to measure how each reader engaged with the content is critical to providing the data all publishers need to innovate and grow the audience for their authors.
Experts agree that there’s correlation between the frequency and duration of time a student spends with a book, on the one hand, and improved test scores and reading proficiency, on the other. Potash related how the “Science of Reading” has been a growing movement in the K–12 market. OverDrive’s work in the classroom has sought to activate both reluctant readers and nonreaders to change their behaviors. He then proposed that the data from a Science of Reading framework offers a playbook for all in the book market to grow the interest in, use of, and purchase of books. This approach included a review of the reasons people use books and the demographic information of those who don’t. He shared data on how audiobooks, manga, and graphic novels are bringing millions of nonusers to the product that is books and stories.
He advocated for new data-informed literacy practices that encourage authors, agents, and publishers to appreciate opportunities to attract new readers. He previewed new reading dashboards and insights designed to help authors identify exactly where they may have “lost the reader.” Evidence-based findings may offer new approaches to the way book acquisition, editorial processes, and target marketing efforts can coach the author and publisher on potential new audiences for their work. In closing, Potash issued a challenge to the publishing industry: stop thinking of literacy as solely an educational issue. Instead, embrace it as a growth strategy that benefits everyone—from authors and booksellers to society at large. “It’s about building a larger, more inclusive, and more literate audience for all books,” Potash said, “through data, science, and a commitment to every reader’s journey.”
