A Pew Research Center study three years ago
identified that seven percent of Americans do not use the Internet. That number
dropped to five percent this January. Still, that means millions of people are
living lives in the last century.
Even worse, one in five Americans lack Internet
access at home. As of October 2022, the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) reported that nearly one in five US
households — or 24 million households — are not connected to the Internet at
home.
So what does this mean for the book world?
There are tens of millions, due to literacy,
education, age, culture, and economics who live disenfranchised lives. If only
they had access to free or inexpensive books! We need everyone to be online —
and on board — for this to happen.
One positive result of the pandemic was that more
people went online in the past four years. When schools and businesses closed
their doors — and friends and families self-isolated — an urgent push was made
to get people online. Still, it is hard to imagine that tens of millions of
Americans lack Internet access at home.
Whether prices for services can come down or the
government helps impoverished people, we must eliminate any financial barriers
to getting everyone online.
Society wins when we have an informed society,
where everyone has equal access to the core tools and basic resources one needs
to survive and thrive in a modern-day society. And if the book world wants to
grow it will need to grow everyone’s access to the Internet.
Need PR Help?
Brian
Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page
views, can be reached at [email protected] He is available to help authors promote their story,
sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in
successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your
advocate, teacher, and motivator!
About Brian
Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be
followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is
copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now
resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue
dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The
Writer and IBPA’s The Independent. This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by
www.WinningWriters.com as a “best resource.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses,
Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres,
right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark
Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay,
Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan
RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He
hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and
has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah
Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association,
Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and
Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have
been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY
Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington
Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, &
Co-Op Association Handbook. It was featured
in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.
