Sunday, February 10, 2019

Is This The Future Of Books & Technology?



1.      Large print books will disappear. Kindle and other e-readers allow for the altering of font styles, size, and background colors. Grandpa deserves to see and e-readers seem logical for them.

2.      Literacy will fall, as more people read only Web sites, emails, Tweets, and blog posts – all of which lack depth, proper grammar, or strong editing.  More people watch more videos and download podcasts and audiobooks and consume information without reading.

3.      Sadly, book sales may decline because so much information is online for free.

4.      Audiobook sales, though soaring this past decade, may fall and give way to multimedia books, those that combine some audio with video.

5.      Translation programs and devices will allow American readers to now read books from countries that previously did not translate their works. This will further increase competition in the US for readers.

6.      The publishing industry will begin to lose its gatekeepers. As it is, book reviewers are being axed by print publications and their space in the newspaper is reduced. Traditional publishers, along with literary agents, will fight for relevance. Bookstores will continue to sell other items – some already sell music, movies, toys, coffee, video games, etc.

7.      The integrity and accuracy of information will become more questionable. As it is, the sources cited by authors in their books are already corrupted by the Internet. As more information is published, society may actually become dumber. Who can keep up with all of the information and who has the time or ability to verify what they read?

8.      More books will continue to be published, but each one will average fewer sales than books do today or what they did five and 10 years ago.

9.      Some new system or gadget will come out that will further shakeup the landscape and the pundits will again look to figure out how to monetize the new gizmo.

10.  Google, Facebook and Amazon will be challenged by others. Everyone loves having established leaders but no one wants a monopoly. Just look at Microsoft. Competition breeds innovation, price controls, and makes for a fairer marketplace.

So how does any of this help you market your book now or in the near future? It doesn’t. You can only sell in the market that exists but you should have an eye on the future so that you can prepare for it and capitalize on it once the opportunity appears.

One thing is certain, once something comes to market it can make a huge, game-changing splash. Look at ipads, smart phones, Kindle, and Facebook. But at the same time, even when something looks dominant, it can eventually go away almost completely – look at beepers, fax machines, electric typewriters and transistor radios. 

The question is: How big will something  become and how long it will be a factor? No one can bank on anything if some tech geek in a garage somewhere is about  to launch the next big thing. Still, sell in the current environment with what you do know and with what is available to you. Tomorrow will settle itself soon enough.



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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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