Thursday, January 3, 2019

Book Trends For 2019


Image result for trends image

Authors, publishers, literary agents, book marketers, and those involved in the creation, editing, packaging, printing, distributing, selling, or promoting of books want to know what the book marketplace holds for 2019.

Just follow the trends:

·         Amazon will continue to grow
·         Barnes & Noble will continue to shrink
·         More indie bookstores will continue to open up
·         Audiobook sales, especially downloadables, will keep rising
·         Ebook sales will continue to slump
·        The Big 5 will still continue to dominate publishing’s best-seller lists and will likely grow with a few more acquisitions.

·         We will move towards 4,000 new books published daily in the US
·        The number of copies sold per new title will continue to decrease.
·         As wages increase and the economy grows, more money is available for book purchases

So what does this mean for the typical author?


  1. It means the landscape for books is steady – no disruptive technology or major shake-ups are expected.  However, the biggest challenges to the book industry succeeding come down to this:
  2. Will people continue to pay for content – books – when so much information is available for free – online, libraries, give-aways?
  3. With so many books being cranked out daily – and millions in backlist living forever – how will authors get discovered?

If the news media is fragmented or, in the case of traditional media, shrinking, how will authors market and promote their books effectively?

Perhaps authors need to look beyond books to be successful.  I don’t mean don’t publish books, but perhaps authors will make more money beyond their book.  For instance, if a book gets sold to a movie studio, you hit pay dirt.  If a book gets turned into an online course or is used to get paid speaking gigs, you’ve struck gold.  Re-sell and re-purpose your content – and use the book as a calling card to get media attention or leads to sell your other services or products.

Another book trend is legacy publishing.  More people than ever are creating books that will only be viewed by a select, small group.  Maybe grandpa writes his memoir for family members.  Or a college grad creates a photography portfolio in book form for perspective employers.  Or your aunt puts her recipes or poems into a book to be shared with the next generation of relatives.

The funny thing about trends is they just sprout up, seemingly out of nowhere.  It would be foolish to think everything from 2018 carries over into 2019.  So what lurks out there that could be an industry-changer?  What will be the next big best-seller?  No one really knows.  

Go be a trend-setter instead of a follower.


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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.



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