Ebooks and Age - Page 4

Mivo · 05-12-2016, 10:03 AM

I get why gender may be relevant, but sexual preferences? In regard to general e-book consumption? That is weird.

Very limiting age brackets, too. I'm forty-four, but my lifestyle and preferences are vastly different now compared to when I was twenty or even thirty.

sakura-panda · 05-12-2016, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djulian

Hmm...I'm definitely not over 45, and I'm definitely not a woman, and I read on my Kindle a ton.

I'm curious about the following:
- Is this unique to Kobo's user base?
- Is this true for reading in general (and not just e-reading)? (There are some notes on that in the article.)
- Is this true for MR forum participants?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...n-study-claims

Quote:

Originally Posted by djulian

Thanks all for the responses, everyone! It's interesting that the MR participants are so far split evenly between men and women, and that the reader age is predominately over 45.

I didn't follow the link and I don't understand the poll, so I didn't vote. I think your poll might only show the age of people willing to follow the link.

I currently purchase most of my ebooks from Kobo, since I prefer epubs and I can easily download their books. They have the remnants of my Sony library, so that I'm basically keeping all of my virtual eggs in one basket.

I guess that makes me both part of the Kobo user base and the MR forums. However, since I honestly don't know what you're measuring, I didn't vote in the poll. (I'm an under 45 woman.)

MGlitch · 05-12-2016, 11:38 AM

As someone who used to sell books I'll tell you this, the folks reading 50 Shades of Grey (arguably the best recognized 'mommy porn' series of late) were not all mommies. They were not all women. They were not all gay or straight. Instead they ranged from teens (bookstores do not restrict material by age lets avoid that debate), 20 somethings, 30 somethings, so on and so on.

As to what each wanted to get out of reading the series, or if they continued to read other books akin to it I can't tell you, save that similar titles did quite well after the fanfare had died down.

The proper sub-genre, by the way, is erotica, if you want to get into sub-sub-genres for 50SoG it'd would be BDSM Erotica (though I am given to understand that it did a piss poor job of portraying BDSM lifestyles). Other sub-sub genres would focus on sexual orientation, or fetishes. They do not describe the reader, they describe the contents of the book.

So really no, when it comes to the discussion of book genres 'mommy porn' is not one. It may be useful in other contexts, though I struggle to think of any since it attempts to assign taste to a very vast and varied group, but book genres are focused in on the book, not as a reflection of the perceived audience of said book.

BearMountainBooks · 05-12-2016, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I think it is very obvious that the reason why ebooks are predominantly bought by elderly women is because ebooks are predominantly meant for and suited to m0mmy p0rn.

...

Not at all. Such dismissal misses the point that a large percentage of buyers/readers are women over 45. The romance category covers everything from flame 1 to books that went up in flames. It covers Christian romance, sweet romance, etc.

Based on my own readership, it easily skews to 45 and older, mostly women. Women do a lot more reading/book buying than men and this is not new. I worked in a library before ebooks really took off and even then, most patrons were 45 and older, female. Second was probably moms bringing their kids in and checking out books both for themselves and the kids. Book readers/buyers was probably similar before ebooks and more of a cultural trend than having anything to do with ebooks.

I write cozy mysteries, urban fantasy (also marketed as paranormal romance and paranormal mysteries) and fantasy (also marketed as fantasy romance). My books are a flame 1 on just about any romance rating scale, yet the demographics that I see reading my books are mostly over 45 and women.

eschwartz · 05-12-2016, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I think it is very obvious that the reason why ebooks are predominantly bought by elderly women is because ebooks are predominantly meant for and suited to m0mmy p0rn.

...

Not at all. Such dismissal misses the point that a large percentage of buyers/readers are women over 45. The romance category covers everything from flame 1 to books that went up in flames. It covers Christian romance, sweet romance, etc.

Based on my own readership, it easily skews to 45 and older, mostly women. Women do a lot more reading/book buying than men and this is not new. I worked in a library before ebooks really took off and even then, most patrons were 45 and older, female. Second was probably moms bringing their kids in and checking out books both for themselves and the kids. Book readers/buyers was probably similar before ebooks and more of a cultural trend than having anything to do with ebooks.

I write cozy mysteries, urban fantasy (also marketed as paranormal romance and paranormal mysteries) and fantasy (also marketed as fantasy romance). My books are a flame 1 on just about any romance rating scale, yet the demographics that I see reading my books are mostly over 45 and women.

Have I struck a nerve?

Because that is the only (still bad) explanation I can find for why you:

Misquoted me.
Ignored the important context of the part of my post which you excised.
Ignored every other post I made in this thread to date.
Proceeded to assume the worst.

So, for the record, peeps, the full quote was:

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I think it is very obvious that the reason why ebooks are predominantly bought by elderly women is because ebooks are predominantly meant for and suited to m0mmy p0rn.

Real book readers read on hand-illuminated vellum. And even the wannabes at least have the decency to use those cheap paper things rather than soulless electrons.

Note the second paragraph.

I shall conclude by repeating another of my posts, and hopefully this time the message will sink through:

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

BearMountainBooks · 05-12-2016, 03:26 PM

I don't think I changed the quote--I just took the line, but if I did inadvertently change it, my apologies. My answer was really directed at the idea that the reason for buying/reading was as simple as something like mommyprn. Referring to romance as mommyprn has a negative and insulting connotation.

Because of that line, I didn't read through every single one of your posts to see if your overall feeling differed from that line. In fact, the truth is, once I read that line, I dismissed everything else you might have to say on the topic because I found that line insulting and narrow.

The only nerve such statements hits with me is to be dismissive of an entire genre or group of people. I don't care what people read or whether they read it via ebooks or print. I don't care if they are men or women reading it.

I apologize for insulting you; there's always a danger your words won't be read if you start off on the wrong foot. Trust me. I know this all too well!

eschwartz · 05-12-2016, 03:39 PM

The second paragraph was in a tone of exaggerated snotty literary elitism, so it is natural to assume the first paragraph was too.

Apology accepted, and no harm done. I guess it is hard to tell right off the bat that someone is joking on the Internet -- the perils of written communication.

BearMountainBooks · 05-12-2016, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

The second paragraph was in a tone of exaggerated snotty literary elitism, so it is natural to assume the first paragraph was too.

Apology accepted, and no harm done. I guess it is hard to tell right off the bat that someone is joking on the Internet -- the perils of written communication.

That's pretty much what happened. There was someone else who made a similar comment above yours (maybe not directly above, somewhere above). I was scanning along and read the first line of yours and that was as much as I was willing to read, so I just happened to have stopped on yours, grabbed that line as the quote and responded.

I might have to give you the benefit of TWO whole paragraphs next time!

JSWolf · 05-12-2016, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I'm pretty sure that was an attempt to include non-binary-gendered individuals. Well-meaning but incorrect in this context.

Very incorrect. I just reported it in hopes someone in green will remove those two answers.

JSWolf · 05-12-2016, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I think a big reason ebooks appeal to older people is simply eyesight. Being able to adjust the font size, line spacing, and font weight; and not being restricted to the limited selection available as large-print paper books. I doubt it is Kobo-specific.

But on a Kindle and a lot of other eInk devices, the font weight cannot be increased. That's one reason Kobo is very good for anybody who needs greater font weight in order to read.

JSWolf · 05-12-2016, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I suggest changing 'LGBTQ' to 'Other'.

And if you want to keep up a MobileRead tradition, change the last option to "The blue one, next to the fish".

I suggest you (as staff) just dump those two. Even changing them to other is offensive.

JSWolf · 05-12-2016, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

No, it really doesn't.

There are romance books.

There are mommy porn books.

It is wrong to conflate romance with mommy porn.

It is not wrong to call mommy porn mommy porn.

Ignoring this simple concept and employing terms like snobbery and irrationality smacks of defensiveness.

50 Shades of Grey is badly written mommy porn.
Love Story is romance.

There is a difference.

JSWolf · 05-12-2016, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Of course it rankles. It's a pointless distinction.

Why the need for such a term at all? There's no other subgenres that get so specific about including their primary patrons' genders, roles or childbearing status in their titles. No "Early 30s Female Urban Fantasy" No "Retired Gentlemen's Rope Opera."

We do have young adult.

JSWolf · 05-12-2016, 05:17 PM

I have read that some people bought a Reader so when reading in public, others would not be able to see what was being read. Take that as you will.

DiapDealer · 05-12-2016, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

We do have young adult.

Young Upscale Female Adult? Young Male (with droopy-pants) Adult?

View Poll Results: Who are you?
Woman 45 and under	25	13.59%
Woman over 45	52	28.26%
Man 45 and under	27	14.67%
Man over 45	71	38.59%
Non-binary 45 and under	0	0%
Non-binary over 45	0	0%
The blue one, next to the fish	9	4.89%
Voters: 184. You may not vote on this poll

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Publishers still valuable in the age of ebooks and Internet access?	Hamlet53	General Discussions	17	07-13-2011 08:29 PM
Age demography: what's your age?	Logseman	Lounge	10	05-11-2011 01:25 AM
Question for math-savvy re: ebooks %age	J. Strnad	General Discussions	3	10-31-2010 08:23 PM
Age demography: what's your age?	Logseman	Lounge	67	05-28-2010 01:59 AM

05-12-2016, 10:03 AM	#46
Mivo Fanatic Posts: 556 Karma: 3531054 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Germany Device: In use: Pocketbook InkPad 3, Kobo Glo, iPad Air 2	I get why gender may be relevant, but sexual preferences? In regard to general e-book consumption? That is weird. Very limiting age brackets, too. I'm forty-four, but my lifestyle and preferences are vastly different now compared to when I was twenty or even thirty.

05-12-2016, 11:38 AM	#48
MGlitch Wizard Posts: 2,841 Karma: 22003124 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: Kobo Forma, Kobo Sage, Kobo Libra 2	As someone who used to sell books I'll tell you this, the folks reading 50 Shades of Grey (arguably the best recognized 'mommy porn' series of late) were not all mommies. They were not all women. They were not all gay or straight. Instead they ranged from teens (bookstores do not restrict material by age lets avoid that debate), 20 somethings, 30 somethings, so on and so on. As to what each wanted to get out of reading the series, or if they continued to read other books akin to it I can't tell you, save that similar titles did quite well after the fanfare had died down. The proper sub-genre, by the way, is erotica, if you want to get into sub-sub-genres for 50SoG it'd would be BDSM Erotica (though I am given to understand that it did a piss poor job of portraying BDSM lifestyles). Other sub-sub genres would focus on sexual orientation, or fetishes. They do not describe the reader, they describe the contents of the book. So really no, when it comes to the discussion of book genres 'mommy porn' is not one. It may be useful in other contexts, though I struggle to think of any since it attempts to assign taste to a very vast and varied group, but book genres are focused in on the book, not as a reflection of the perceived audience of said book.

05-12-2016, 03:26 PM	#51
BearMountainBooks Maria Schneider Posts: 3,746 Karma: 26439330 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Near Austin, Texas Device: 3g Kindle Keyboard	I don't think I changed the quote--I just took the line, but if I did inadvertently change it, my apologies. My answer was really directed at the idea that the reason for buying/reading was as simple as something like mommyprn. Referring to romance as mommyprn has a negative and insulting connotation. Because of that line, I didn't read through every single one of your posts to see if your overall feeling differed from that line. In fact, the truth is, once I read that line, I dismissed everything else you might have to say on the topic because I found that line insulting and narrow. The only nerve such statements hits with me is to be dismissive of an entire genre or group of people. I don't care what people read or whether they read it via ebooks or print. I don't care if they are men or women reading it. I apologize for insulting you; there's always a danger your words won't be read if you start off on the wrong foot. Trust me. I know this all too well!

05-12-2016, 03:39 PM	#52
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	The second paragraph was in a tone of exaggerated snotty literary elitism, so it is natural to assume the first paragraph was too. Apology accepted, and no harm done. I guess it is hard to tell right off the bat that someone is joking on the Internet -- the perils of written communication.

05-12-2016, 05:17 PM	#59
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,107 Karma: 129333562 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I have read that some people bought a Reader so when reading in public, others would not be able to see what was being read. Take that as you will.

Advert

Advert