At
the top of mind for authors, book publishers, literary agents, editors,
bookstores and marketing is a question: Where
is the book publishing industry heading?
Depending
on one's experiences and hopes, we will receive a variety of answers from many
people. At a Book Expo America
presentation this past month, we heard the predictions/wish-list of Margot
Atwell, the director of publishing for Kickstarter.
We
do know that the book industry has different cycles. About a decade ago we saw the e-book
revolution kick in simultaneously with the Great Recession and the colossal
collapse of Borders, then the No. 2 book chain.
Perhaps four or five years ago the industry stopped its hemorrhaging and began to stabilize and then grow. Indie bookstore openings are up. Paper book sales are up. And Amazon has firmly established itself not only as the No. 1 seller of books but as a growing force as a publisher, both with its own line of books, kindle editions, and self-publishing.
Perhaps four or five years ago the industry stopped its hemorrhaging and began to stabilize and then grow. Indie bookstore openings are up. Paper book sales are up. And Amazon has firmly established itself not only as the No. 1 seller of books but as a growing force as a publisher, both with its own line of books, kindle editions, and self-publishing.
So
where do we go from here?
Margo
began her discussion by saying, if the book world is to produce books that
reflect a diversity of interests of potential readers then the book industry
would need to hire more people from diverse backgrounds. The book industry is 79% white. How many acquisition editors, marketers or
publishing heads are black, Asian, Hispanic, Native-American, handicapped, or
LGBTQ?
Next,
she says that for publishing to expand and meet the needs of America’s many
faces and political beliefs it can’t all be concentrated in New York, Chicago
or LA. These liberal, expensive cities
will need to give way to smaller, conservative cities.
She also
believes publishers will find a way to connect more directly with their
readers. Right now, Amazon has all the
data on sales. Some media platforms also
have data on book buyers/readers. But
the publishers have been lagging in selling to or communicating directly with
readers.
Writers
who make some 40% less now on average than they did a decade ago, according to
Margot, need to make more money otherwise writing will only become affordable
by people who are well-to-do. Will we
hear the voices of all classes if the poorest can’t afford to be writers?
She
spoke about publishers needing to be community driven-and to connect beyond the
written page. Publishers must be a part
of their city and the bookstore-library ecosystem, otherwise people do not
feel a deeper connection to local publishing entities.
Lastly,
she mentioned the existence of “public benefit corporations,” and how
publishers or bookstores may one day become these corporations that allow for a
public benefit and run to some degree with the support of government funds.
Here
are some future trends that I either hope come to fruition or look destined to
happen:
1.
Barnes
& Noble, which recently got sold off to a hedge fund guy, will make a
comeback. It will become
profitable again – and it will start to open more stores than it closes. It must do this. But it will take a better marketing effort on
their part. They’ll need to go beyond
emailing members or posting fliers in stores about upcoming events. They’ll need to get out there and talk books
up in schools, churches, businesses, and at community gatherings.
2.
Indie bookstores
will continue to open up but they’ll be smaller than current stores and they’ll
need to serve reading deserts. They will have to partner with a
community’s intellectual infrastructure to draw in those with the brains and
bucks to come visit their stores.
3.
Book
publishers will need to be faster-to-market.
The typical 18-month cycle from manuscript acceptance to publication is
just too long in the I-want-it-now society that information flows.
4.
Something needs to
rival Amazon, but who or how is not known.
5.
A better
system of cataloging books will be needed.
Books in print, Amazon, and the Dewey Decimal System are all terrific at
listing millions of books but they don’t make discoverability as easy as it needs
to be. We need a clean filter that rates all books on equally agreed upon
criteria, that does a better job of properly labeling book genres, and that
provides a uniform-style summary of the book and the author’s credentials.
6.
Movie theaters
should do tie-ins with books.
When a movie is based on a book, why not have the theaters sell the
book? If a movie is on a certain
subject, such as World War II, why not sell books on that subject?
7.
A
service called Book a Date should be launched online. Single people looking to meet other bookish
people should be able to do just that.
Maybe carry it a step further. Sell books on this site and when people
buy a certain title, the site tells all of the people who bought the book so
those who bought the same book have a chance to connect with each other.
8.
Schools
should increase their book reading lists. Kids need to read more. I find the pace in elementary and middle
school to be slow. Get these kids to read
more, and thus, increase book sales that way.
9.
Airports
should allow authors to come speak.
It will increase book sales – you have people waiting around doing
nothing.
10.
Publishers
should link with brand chains – fast food joints like McDonald’s,
coffee spots like Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks, or stores like GAP, Marshall’s
or Macy’s. Get them to sell your books.
11.
Make
reading books a sport. We have youth
sports leagues, right? Why not Youth
Book Clubs? Get our youngest people
connected to books. They can form teams
and compete, based on number of books read or some other level. Give kids jerseys that promote books. Or better yet, have kids in the Cub Scouts or
sports-team fundraisers sell books instead of some sugary, obesity-supportive
candy.
12.
Put
books where you least expect them – bridal
registries, bathroom vending machines, at the Post Office, or in a bank. Books must find people and be where people
congregate.
13.
Books
need to be packaged with other products or services, based on a theme. How about a new parent gift basket, which
could include anything from baby wipes to wine for the parents -- and books to
read? Or maybe a retirement gift box,
which could include gift certificates to the bookstore along with other
goodies?
14.
The book
world needs to make news – not just from publishing controversial books,
censorship issues, or bidding wars for authors. The book world needs a trumped-up issue,
something that bands everyone together.
Or we need something outrageous to be done so that the media is paying
attention to all things books.
Who
knows what will happen in the future for society, books, or our own lives? Predictions don’t always pan out but we need
to envision an ever-changing, growing, but challenging environment to sell
books and then find ways to adjust or even take advantage of those
opportunities.
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