Print Book Sales Rise, Sort Of

The number of printed books year-to-date vs. a year ago is down 11% across the board, but one area was showing growth: juvenile nonfiction, which showed an uptick of 4% in that same period. another birght spot: board books (fior infants/toddlers) rose 2%. Adult nonfiction declined by 15%, adult fiction by 13% and juvenile fiction decreased by just 3%.  No doubt, with a new holiday season of ebook reading device purchases, the number of print books sold will likely experience another double-digit decline in 2013. Still, even with the increasing popularity of ebooks, some 482,000,000 printed books were sold this past year, according to Nielsen Bookscan, which doesn’t necessarily include a lot of sales, such as those conducted by authors at events or their Web sites.

Interview With Best-Selling Novelist Jamie Freveletti

1. What is your new book, Dead Asleep, about? Dead Asleep takes my character, Emma Caldridge, a chemist and ultra runner, to an island in the Caribbean where she searches for a mineral unique to the area. While there she meets with superstition and folklore. As a scientist she begins to unravel what's real from what's imaginary, but while she does a very real virus begins attacking the population. The island is quarantined, leaving Emma trapped with some unsavory characters and no way out.

2. What inspired you to write it? I was reading some "folklore" about ancient sailors reporting sea monster sightings, and on the heels of that a group of Japanese sailors (present day) videotaped the first sighting of a giant squid-- with 40 ft tentacles. Suddenly it was clear to me that those ancient sailors weren't lying. Imagine if a 40 ft long massive tentacle rose out of the ocean? You'd be terrified! I decided to look into other phenomenon that seem otherworldly but had an actual scientific answer. As a scientist Emma is the perfect person to unravel the mystery. This book was challenging and fascinating to write.  

3. What draws you to the thriller genre? I've always loved the genre starting from when I was a young girl reading Edgar Allen Poe. I was only 9, but I loved it! I moved on to Nancy Drew mysteries and Agatha Christie and my love for them has never died. It's great to now be able to write them. A dream come true, really.

4. You also are the new voice for Robert Ludlum's Covert One series. What are the challenges of writing for a best-selling franchise? The biggest challenge was overcoming fear! My mother introduced me to Robert Ludlum's books--I think she gave me her copy of The Matarese Circle. When the Estate contacted me I was flattered but scared to death, really. I didn't want to mess up his legacy. I spent a lot of time analyzing his style and then just went for it. I'm pleased to report that the fans have been wonderful! I enjoyed every minute of writing his characters.

5. What do you love most about being a writer of fiction? I love being able to live in my imagination for a portion of each day. It's like play to me, and it refreshes me and takes me away from any troubles or mundane problems that the real world presents. On a practical level, I love that my thirty or forty minute one way commute is gone. My current commute is from my master bedroom to the coffee pot in the kitchen. You've gotta love that!

6. Where do you see the book publishing industry heading? Ahhh, what a tough question. Everyone in the industry has this on their mind. Authors as well. I definitely see the formats reshuffling. When Borders closed a lot of shelf space was lost. Add to that the convenience of E-readers and it seems to point in the direction of electronic books, but I think it will settle out at a mixture print and electronic books. I have children that are avid readers and when they're not streaming movies on their computer, watching YouTube or interacting on Facebook they read actual books. I've asked them if they'd like an e-reader, but they've declined, saying that they spend all day on the computer and prefer a book to relax. Since they are the next generation, I think that's instructive. I don't think print will die, as some are predicting, but I'm no fortune-teller either. We'll see what the next year brings!

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. Please note that Jamie’s newest book was promoted by my employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This blog is copyrighted material by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2012 ©