Can Best-Selling Authors Fizzle Like The ipod?

 

Imagine creating a product that was so successful it revolutionized an industry. Then, imagine selling an average of 22.5 million of these things a year, for two decades. Now, imagine that very item getting replaced by the next new thing, cutting sharply into your sales until you “only” sell a few million items a year. Lastly, imagine that product being discontinued, reduced to being a relic no better than a manual typewriter, black and white television, or a Polaroid camera.

I am talking about the ipod, a tiny, light, portable device that turned the music world on its ears. We bridged the era of SONY Walkmans and Spotify with ipods. But now a multi-billion-dollar product is dead and worthless. How does that happen, to go from boom to bust over the span of just one generation? Can this happen to best-selling authors too?

When something is a hit or someone is wildly famous, it is hard to imagine a time when they wouldn’t be big sellers or popular, and yet we know that what goes up must come down. One day, Google will go bust, Amazon will be a memory, and Facebook will be a footnote to history. It is not if — but when — these things will happen. Yet, it is hard to fathom them now.

Today’s best-selling author or award-winning book may seem popular, interesting, or even important today but at some point few people will know of or remember it or them. Trends, evolution, revolution. Things change. Always, everywhere, with everything, and to everyone.

Now, the reverse can be true, too. Unknown authors can become successful. Today’s undiscovered author can be tomorrow’s darling. So, just as fame is not forever, neither is obscurity. Nothing is guaranteed — you can guide your path to victory or you can fall from grace.

It still seems unfathomable that one of the leading companies with one of the most popular products in a generation has now ceased production of such product. But, that is the way of the world. Nothing is forever — neither fame and fortune nor obscurity and poverty.

Authors should feel they have a chance to break through, however low the odds, because nothing is permanent. 

 

Please Contact Me For Help

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres.

Catch Up & Read These !!

How Can You Grow Your Writing Career?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/how-can-you-grow-your-writing-career.html

 

Is Your Book Finding Readers?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/is-your-book-finding-readers.html

 

Audit Your Book Marketing

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/audit-your-book-marketing.html

 

Author Costs & Rewards

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/author-costs-rewards.html

 

   How Do Authors Solve Their Problems?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/how-do-authors-solve-their-problems.html

 

Do You Have A Good Author Tagline?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/do-you-have-good-author-tagline.html

 

Could Free Book PR Cost Authors $10,000?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/could-book-publicity-could-cost-authors.html

 

The Truth That Authors Need To Hear

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-truth-that-authors-need-to-hear.html

 

Book Publishing Expose For Authors From An Insider

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/book-publishing-expose-for-authors-from.html

 

Interview With A Leading Book Marketer For Over 30 Years, Brian Feinblum

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/interview-with-leading-book-marketer.html

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2022. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This blog, with over 4,000 posts over the past decade, was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Susan RoAne, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, IBPA, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.