Does Book Publishing Need A Pope?

As the world mourns the passing of Pope John Francis it has occurred to me that the world of books needs its own Pope, a visionary who can lead others to write, publish, and read great books. He or she would be the voice of reason and optimism, of hope and strength, to show us by what truths and convictions our book world should live by.

Right now, we have a Wild West approach to book publishing. Who is ensuring the setting of standards and keeping quality controls in place?

Self-publishing, AI, social media, Amazon, streaming audiobooks. ebooks, Apple, and our education system have greatly disrupted the book industry this century. Only a Book Pope can help guide so many disparate interests and champion the best way to unify us.

We need a book catechism or encyclical, a document of guidelines and values for those in the book world to adhere to, in order to encourage a higher level of book publishing takes place.

Of the world’s 2.4 billion Christians, 1.4 billion are Catholic. Are they all God-fearing, good people? Of course not, but the vast majority seek to live in a way that is consistent with many of the core moral tenets of the Church. The world of readers, writers, and publishers needs a leader, one who promotes the love of book reading, celebrates books, encourages that better books be published, and demands more from our publishers.

The Gutenberg printing press is a quarter-century shy of 600 years. The Catholic Church has had a Pope for 2000 years. The book world needs to catch up.

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Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 4.25 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.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity 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.

 

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).

 

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. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

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.

 

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.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum