I think all arts ask this question periodically - Basically "How can we make more money? Why are we loosing or not reaching a group of untapped cash?"
Hollywood said the same thing - the same year Avatar became the highest grossing movie of all time. Their argument was that people weren't going to the movies.
The Music Industry asked the same question a few years back, along with the video game industry. I'm sure those over the XBox One are asking the same question right now.
Ultimately, the problem is not with the die-hards but with those who rarely use a service/buy/etc. How do you get a person to go to the movies VS waiting on the movie to come out on DVD? How do you get a person to buy a song vs listen to it a few times on youtube/radio? How do you get those who would rather watch a movie to read?
How do you get more boys to read? Write books boys want to read. While that answer may seem arrogant and overly simple. I think one must go into depth on the subject before it can be discussed.
I think the problem with it is the same as when that answer is applied to movies. It presupposes that the people who don't go to movies that often simply don't have things they want to see, thus figure out the demographic, make things they want to see, and voila! Except not. People don't go to the movies for tons of reasons. I love the movies; I don't like paying $14 a ticket, and I really, really, really, don't like assholes who can't keep their mouths shut. I go to movies after they've been open for long enough for the crowds to have severely dissipated. Often, I end up missing movies I'd have seen were people not jackasses. I don't mean everyone is, but go to movies and shush people enough times and the expectation that people will talk, use their phones, etc., becomes the default.
Other ppl don't like paying $7 for stale popcorn or whatever reason. People can afford very nice, very large televisions. These are all factors.
Similarly, I think, the 'write books boys want to read,' ignores that the books exist, that they're not being marketed correctly, that boys aren't getting the idea that reading is a boy thing, that 10 other things. It doesn't make sense to me to suggest that boys WOULD read, if only there were different books from the millions out there, as if they've tried them and found them lacking.
One of the blog articles that convinced me to finally write a novel was actually written by Rick Riordan. He talked about how even after his success and first movie there were those who didn’t understand why he had an explosion in every other chapter. His answer was “I like explosions.” And allot of others must like it too since his books have sold into the millions.
I think the concept is that people are just different and they like different things. I’ve run into many people who really want a “coming of age” story not a “plot driven one.” Reluctant Readers (to me a better tern than boys vs girls) tend to want more “external” things to happen and fewer “internal” things. While from what I’ve read/discussed the Constant Reader many times prefers the internal to the external which means even “boy books” can be boring because nothing external is really happening – dramatic action is not the same as physical action.
A quick search for “Reluctant Reader Books” turns up books like Percy Jackson, Alex Rider, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and others which are filled with ACTION or every page is loaded with COMEDY, etc.
As noted, this belies the idea that there aren't books. It's also ignoring that there are ten tons of books with explosions that didn't happen to hit, or with comedy, or whatever. It's also conflating reluctant readers with simplistic and boy, and girl with emotional, which I have a problem with.
Books are captivating worlds that have a wonderful appeal but most boys are looking for the chance to become a hero, now. They don't want to wait 135 pages to find their hero. That's why video games are such a draw. You can play only a few minutes and are already a hero, betting the odds, vanquishing the foe. Yes it is a black and white world with little of the color or depth of a book but it fills the need.
This couldn't be more ridiculously sexist if it tried. Really? Boys want to be heroes and can't wait to read a whole book for adrenaline so they play video games (which often take months to complete).
I don't think reading is quite the same. Literacy is important. It's not just about entertainment, though entertainment can be one of the most effective ways to help aid an increase in literacy (people read the book because they're entertained by it, and they improve their reading skills).
You say this, and then you point out this:
And this suggests the problem isn't with being able to find this content at all. I know most people I've known in my life who weren't readers had no clue what content could be found in books because they had been exposed to so few of them.
I still think the problem with boys not reading (and I do think it's a problem when they're lagging behind in reading skills) is that reading isn't always presented to them as something they should do except in school. I think fewer boys grow up seeing the men around them read, fewer of them are given books as gifts, especially by men (important because boys tend to take cues from male role models as girls do from female ones), and too many people adopt the books just aren't for boys anyway attitude.
I personally think it's more likely the culture around books and reading that leads to boys not reading, not the books themselves. My younger brother always insisted there were no interesting books in the library, and yet my mother would be able to search out something related to his interests at the drop of a hat when he had to find something for a book report.
This.
