Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Books & The American Dream




“How’s the publishing business?”

I get asked that question all the time, especially from friends, relatives, and those curious about books.

The perception by many is that books are dying.  But they are not.

I tell them the facts:

·         Indie book stores have increased in size in each of the last nine years.
·         More books are being published than ever before,
·         Print books still represent about 80% of the money in sales.

But they remember Borders closing and see that Barnes & Noble flounders.  They see everyone on a device, doing anything but reading a book.

Perceptions are often based on limited experiences or rumors or anecdotal evidence.  But the facts are that the book industry is growing very slowly, but growing.  The average author makes less than what the average author made five years ago because there are so many titles competing for limited dollars.

The book world is still an amazing industry.  It represents the best of the American Dream – anyone can write a book, get it published, and pursue their riches.

For many it’s not the money, but the pride and joy of seeing their ideas, feelings, experiences, and thoughts get packaged into something that anyone can read – today or a century — later that moves them to write books.

There are many ways to profit from a book – and certainly many people do find the book publishing experience of value.  But for hundreds of thousands of authors each year, they find that their books didn’t rise to the level of fame and fortune that they had hoped for.  

Book publishing is like the lottery.  You have to be in it to win, so buy your tickets and publish your books, but understand that in order to win big, so many must lose and lose hard and fast.  That’s the American way, for better or worse.  It’s the American Dream and to not participate, is the American Nightmare.

“You are a victim of the rules you live by.”
--Jenny Holzer

“Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.”
--Elbert Hubbard

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”
--Soren Kierkegaard

“The shortest aphorism that makes you think the longest is the best.”

--Julien de Valckenaere

DON”T MISS THESE!!!
The Book Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers

How Authors Can Sell More Books

No. 1 Book Publicity Resource: 2019 Toolkit For Authors -- FREE

How Authors Get Bulk Sales Now


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.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.