Robin Jackson at HumorWriters.org has culled some disturbing facts into the same room for high-bulb questioning. The facts point to a dying print market, or to a nation that is borderline retarded. Here are a few gruesome highlights (full credits in Mrs. Jackson's story):

- 1/3 of high school graduates never read another book in their lives.
- 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
- 80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
- 70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in five years.
- 57 percent of new books are not read to completion.
- 70 percent of the books published do not make a profit.
- A successful fiction book sells 5,000 copies.
- A successful nonfiction book sells 7,500 copies.

And finally:
- Each day in the U.S., people spend 4 hours watching TV, 3 hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.

I knew the comic industry was in the crapper but didn't expect awful numbers like this from "mainstream print". Eep. I wonder if our kids will ever see books outside of libraries and museums?