An Oscar Goes To…Books!

 

The Academy Awards are upon us again, and all kinds of movies and Hollywood practitioners will earn an Oscar. There will be buzz on social media and coverage by the news media. Everyone watches movies, right?

Well, apparently the movie theater business peaked nearly 80 years ago. I am not kidding. Back in 1947, when we did not even have 50 states and America’s population was 200 million less than today’s total, the most movie tickets were sold — 4.7 billion. This last year? 780 million — a drop of 84%!

The big difference between now and then? Television.

In 1947, talking movies were just a generation old, they were shot in black and white, and shown in large single-screen theaters. It was special to go to the theater. Teens and young lovers hid from large families to “make out” inside a dark theater. It was inexpensive entertainment. And the only game in town.

Then came network television and the convenience and miracle of having moving, talking images in the comfort of your own home. Then came cable TV, big-screen TV, and finally streaming on any device.

People still watch a ton of movies, maybe more than ever, but not so many go to the theater to consume them. New technologies and market choices alter what we consume — and how we acquire it. But the bottomline is that movie-viewing is forever popular and is still a profitable venture for the creators, actors, production staff, and the executives.

The book industry also has undergone revolutionary changes over how books are consumed and who publishes them. The main reason? The Internet.

The biggest changes in the book industry over the past two decades have been:

* The ability to buy books online
* The rise, fall, and rebirth of chain book stores
* Self-publishing platforms and costs
* Print-on-demand capacity
* The resurrection of bookstores
* Use of social media, blogs, podcasts, and websites to market books
* The rise of audiobooks due to streaming online
* The advent and growth of e-books
* The decline of traditional media book review space and the rise of legitimate paid reviews
* The changing population demographics — fewer English-speaking Americans
* The competition for readers vs. options posed by low-priced or free content providers

But through all of these massive changes,  and despite the challenges or because of new opportunities, book buying and book reading is alive and well in America. The landscape has changed for who publishes, what books sell for, how they buy them, and in what format they gey consumed, but the bottom line overall is that lots of books are being written and read — and that is a wonderful thing.

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum 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 5,600,000 page views. With 5,500+ posts over the past 14 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 2026.

 

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 was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

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