What Could A Trump Win Mean To The Book Industry?

No matter who you vote for — or if you don’t vote for a presidential candidate — the nation will have a new president in January. Will it be Democrat Kamala Harris, who may be a continuation of President Joe Biden, or Republican Donald Trump, who may resemble how he governed four years ago?  

Let’s explore what a Trump presidency might mean for the book publishing industry. Of course, it also depends on whether his party wins any or both chambers of Congress. If it is a clean Republican sweep, big changes could be in play.  

1, Book Publishing Mergers -- Republicans generally are pro-business, meaning fewer regulations, taxes, or impediments to businesses seeking to maximize profits. The Department of Justice, under a President Trump, would not stand in the way of mergers and consolidations in the book industry. 

2. Book Stores -- As a business, book stores could benefit under lower tax rates that a Trump presidency is likely to bring. 

3. Book Subjects -- The election results, if Trump wins, will spawn a cottage industry of books. Same with Harris. 2025 will feature many books on policy, how each candidate won or lost, and people questioning the future of America. I would expect an increase in fiction book sales, for people burned out over the national political discussion, wanting an escape from whatever reality offers. Trump has published numerous best-selling books. I would expect him to release a huge book while in office. 

4. Book Bans -- Individual states and community school boards and town libraries determine standards for books that get carried in a local library, and in many Red states over the past few years, we have seen soaring numbers of book bans. Could it get worse under Trump? Well, if he threatens the federal allocations to various states based on a litmus test, who knows. Just like states get federal highway money if they enforce certain recommended standards, what is to stop him from doing that with libraries? He already wants to abolish the Board of Education. On his 2.0 tour he seems more vengeful and emboldened, and has a solid Supreme Court majority that bends over for him.

5. Library of Congress/The Arts -- Republicans often hold budgets hostage, threatening to cut them. Cultural arts programs don’t fare well under Republicans. In 2020, Publishers Weekly reported: “For a fourth straight year, the Trump administration has once again proposed the permanent elimination of the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and with it virtually all federal funding for libraries.“ in early 2021, The New York Times reported: “When Donald Trump became the first president to make a formal proposal to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, the future looked grim to the many artists and cultural organizations that have long worried about conservative efforts to close the federal arts-funding agency.“ In the end, Congress stepped in to save the arts and libraries but funding did not rise by as much under Democrat President Obama or President Joe Biden. 

6. Defamation/Libel Laws -- Trump, who loves to sue to silence and bully people, wants to see it easier to sue writers and the media, in hopes the threat of successful litigation — or costly litigation — will force voices to be quiet and less critical of him. Look for him to mess with free speech when it comes to authors and traditional media but to go the opposite way with big tech, in seeking to force companies like Facebook to stop censoring and blocking posts it may not like politically. 

7. Lawsuits -- All lawsuits brought against Trump will go away or lay dormant for another four years. Further, he believes SCOTUS granted him across-the-board immunity to do whatever he wants. Whatever he will do to or for the book world, he will act with a feeling of impunity. 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it 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 www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions 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, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, 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. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.