The
wealth gap that exists in America can be seen through the eyes of publishing.
For all the talk of the self-publishing revolution, the vast majority of the
books that sell the most copies are produced by one of the big five publishers
or Amazon.
The
list of wealthiest Americans recently came out and it showed the top 400 people
combined to earn 2.2 trillion dollars in 2012 --way up since they earned a mere
1.27 trillion bucks in just 2009. Meanwhile, the average household income in
America was just $52,000 -- down 6% from the $55,000 earned in 2007.
So
many authors struggle to sell more than a few hundred copies of their
print-on-demand or e-only books. Others may sell a few thousand copies. Only handfuls
break through and sell a lot of copies or make a best-seller list.
America
has always been a nation of haves and have nots. Publishing is the same way.
Even with capitalism and democracy at full throttle, the world is carved up in such a way so that just a small minority is wildly successful and the significant
majority lags far, far behind.
What
could improve the situation? Does it need improving?
Americans overall and authors in particular, seem to gravitate toward the extremes -- boom or bust, feast or famine. But I’m sure many crave to succeed, as so msny people either win the lottery or waste their time and money trying.
There
are many well-written books but so many are poorly distributed and lack
marketing, publicity, or advertising. It seems, to be a successful writer, one
must be a successful businessperson.
Why
is Bill Gates worth $71 billion ot Mark Zuckerberg $19 billion or Oprah $3 billion while so many
authors failed to net more than pool money for their sweat and tears? No one is
conspiring to ensure the author earns tablescraps but no one is out there
making it easier for them to earn more. Still, it seems like the entrance to
publishing has gotten easier, but the path to riches has gotten harder.
Maybe
all of the free books, free blogs, heavily discounted books, and an over abundance
of competing content products has something to do with it. Perhaps the
decreased bookstore presence adds to it. Or maybe it’s just society’s way of
saying it doesn’t fully value books and writers as much as it does other
industries or professions.
America
and publishing are on course for a great divide. Which side will you be on?
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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. 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
is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013
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