It Is Not Nuts: Authors Should Overcharge For Their Books

 

Here is a cautionary consumer tale that should let writers know both how they may be overcharged for things — and how they can also overcharge readers if they choose to. Read on.

We all have noticed how the “healthy” food option can cost more money than the standard version of the same food. Organic foods cost more. Red meat from grass-fed cows cost more.  However, not every healthier version of a food need cost more.

Ok, I get it. If you use higher quality goods, take extra preparation steps, or your natural ingredients come from far away, more costs are connected to the product. The less processed or factory formulaic one’s food is, the greater likelihood there is a higher cost to the producer and thus to the consumer.

However, what happens when no extra costs are involved in producing a healthier option but the retailer upcharges by nearly 45% above the “regular” version of a food product?

How about this: Consumers are being charged more when a manufacturer merely withholds an ingredient. Imagine: You get less of something but now you pay more. Why? Because a store believes it can get away with it.

I was looking for almonds the other day at Stop & Shop, the largest chain grocery store servicing my county. I stumbled upon cashews. I saw that the small plastic box that I had picked up had salt, so I switched for unsalted. I had noticed the salted ones were $6.99, already a ripoff given their size. The unsalted were jacked up to 9.99 — a full three dollars more.

Out for blood, I went looking for a store manager to ask why they are ripping off consumers. I was shocked to hear them state the truth.

The customer service counter employee looked it up and saw the price differential and he stated, over a guilty smile, “Because customers are willing to pay more for the healthy version.” I told him nothing was done except using one less ingredient. He said: “They know people will pay for it.”

So, his answer basically was: We do it not on merit, but because we can get away with it. I am not even sure that the manufacturer, Nature’s Promise up-charged them or by how much, but Stop & Shop clearly seems opportunistic to take advantage of customers.

I demanded to speak to a manager and to be charged $6.99. He called someone and got the approval.

I felt happy that I took a stand, advocated for myself, and got results, but I felt disappointed in myself for not trying harder to make it affordable to all consumers. I am a street-savvy loudmouth, but what about the sheep out there who do not question, speak up, and take action?

The marketing lesson is two-fold here: As a consumer, buyer beware. As an author, tru charging premiums on your books and you will be surprised that people will blindly pay what you ask, even if there is no merit to it.

For instance, many authors would gladly talk for free and then hope to sell some books at an event. What if you instead charge for the event and include a copy of the book? You can make more money by rolling the book into the ticket price.

Another thing that you can do is have a gift version of your book. Maybe it is a hard cover instead of a paperback and maybe consumers get access to bonus content that you already have on your website. You may charge a lot more for this, even though your production costs increased just slightly.

Or how about this? Take your non-fiction book’s contents and sell it online as some kind of do-it-yourself resource online and charge double or more for it. The recipient may not know the exact same content is available as a book. And if you want it to seem different, add a few pages of additional resources and content and market it as an expanded resource and charge more.

As you can see, you can be the consumer sucker or you can be the savvy manufacturer and retailer. You too can overcharge for saltless cashews and though it seems nuts, you will come out way ahead.

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,950,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). 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, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, 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

 

 

 

Does The Book Industry Really Know How Many Books Are Published?

 

There may have been a record number of books published in 2025 -- or not. No one seems to know.  

According to statistics compiled by Bowker, and reported by Publishers Weekly, a flood of books were published last year. However, it is unclear if the number of unique titles has risen -- and if so — by how much.  

Why, in this era of data, do we not know?  

A common practice in the industry is to report how many books were published with an ISBN. An ISBN is like a Social Security number for books. If a book is published as a hardcover, trade paperback, e-book, and an audiobook, that counts as four books even though it is just one title. Soooooo, when we hear the number of ISBNs assigned to self-published books rose by almost 40 percent in one year -- to 3.529 million books in 2025 — we need to pause and evaluate what is really going on here.  

There is no way that the number of unique, author-generated titles has risen by 40 percent in one year. Yes, writing a book is a popular thing these days, and yes, the numbers have been trending up for many years, but no, for all of the books generated in 2024 we did not create 40 percent more of them in 2025.  

We definitely created a lot of books in numerous formats,  and maybe we added some additional unique titles above last year's numbers. But it is hard to say.  

Almost every book now is issued in dual e-book and paperback formats. So, if we hear 3,539,000 self-published books happened in 2025, divide that in half, to 1,769,000. Then, we need to account that many are in the audio format as well, as it is becoming very popular to put a book into audio. And some have hardcover versions as well. It is likely that no more than 1.5 million unique titles were self-published last year. Still a ton, but I could not tell you if the number is going up or down. 

Traditionally published books rose from 602,000 to 642,00 -- or almost 7%. Again, how does that break down by format with double- or triple- or quadruple-dipping per title?  

Combined, we are at 4.17 million “new books” published last year, but for the reasons stated here, it is likely far below two million actual unique titles. Using that number, there are something like 550 unique books published every single day - 23 per hour or one every 2.6 seconds. 

Another issue impacting the huge amounts of published content might be the proliferation of AI.  

Is the new technology making it easier to publish content not crafted in part or whole by a human? Uh, yeah! 

As a ratio of books published, the self-publishing industry output is beyond a 5:1 ratio to what is produced by traditional publishers. But the revenue from regular publishers likely far exceeds what is compiled by self-published books. Almost 80 percent of all of the best-seller lists from the NY Times are occupied by traditionally published books. 

So, however things are counted, the book industry is definitely producing a lot of books in many formats, and we definitely lack a way of knowing how many unique books are published in one year. 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,950,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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

 

 

 

80’s Silver Screen Siren Rebecca De Mornay Falls Short In Stage Comeback With Off-Broadway’s The Pushover

 

Rebecca De Mornay’s acting career broke out in her 1982 film, Risky Business, playing the prostitute love interest opposite a then-unknown Tom Cruise. Her best role followed a few years later as an alluring, sexy, manipulative killer in a cautionary tale, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. It was with curiosity that I went to see her perform on stage in The Pushover, an off-Broadway play. Unfortunately, this does not look to be the stage for her to recapture some of her glory.

The Pushover is a play about three dysfunctional women who collide at a spa in New Mexico, and a bare-bones Asian restaurant in Queens. They speak the language of the outcast, rough and sexual, and fight to survive, and to love. But each is dangerously flawed and not fully capable of understanding themselves as well as they think they see others.  

It ambitiously tries to make strong statements amidst a lesbian love triangle gone bad, about the good and evil in everyone, whether we really can change who we are, the role of faith and forgiveness in our lives, and the challenges of love. However, a blend of dialogue shortfalls and disconnected acting dooms this play. While watching the scenes unfold, I was too aware they were acting and that their characters weren’t real. It lacked the gritty authenticity it desperately tried to create. 

The play, performed at New York City's intimate Chain Theatre, is the production of ​John Patrick Shanley and directed by Kirk Gostkowski. It was particularly disappointing to not see a stronger script from Shanley, who had won an Academy Award, Tony Award, and a Pulitzer Prize for prior works.

The play does make theatre-goers think. It challenges our assumptions about how far we may go to forgive those who hurt us. Could any of us turn out to be a pushover when love is at play? 

It also leaves us wondering why the duo of interesting themes and a talented headline actress fall short.

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,850,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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

 

 

 

Don't Market Your Book Like Apple's Ron Wayne

 

Authors must never give up on their creations if they believe in them. Just follow the lesson of Ron Wayne, who threw in the towel too soon on what could have dramatically changed his life and his family for generations to come.

Here is Ron’s story, a cautionary tale for all entrepreneurs and enterprising authors:

Apple, one of the world’s leading technology companies and heavily influential in the evolving telecommunications industry, just turned 50. The company was formed by a college dropout, Steve Jobs, and a gadget-tinkering friend who worked at Hewlett-Packard, Steve Wozniak.

They each formed their partnership with 45% shares and 10% went to their advisor, Ron Wayne. However, the company got off to a shaky start and Ron shit the bed, cashing in his stake very early, for an $800 payout. He would get another $1500 a year later. The company is now valued at $3,700,000,000,000. If you can’t add up all of the zeroes, that’s 3.7 trillion dollars. His share, due to changes when the company went public, would be worth at least 100 billion dollars today.

So, what is the moral here?

If you truly believe that you have created something unique and special, be willing to weather temporary missteps, losses, or setbacks. Be willing to take a risk. It is like a slumping athlete. Their tailspin is temporary. They know that if they stay fundamentally sound in their approach to their craft, and work hard, they will eventually breakthrough.

Sure, most start-ups fail, but many have modest success, and only a few really blow things out of the water. For authors and their books, it is the same thing.

But you don’t have to play things by statistical odds. All that you need to do is remain confident and take action. Be resilient. Your book, if it is good, deserves better. Market often and do it well. If your book is to fail it should be because it really was rejected by those who read it, not because your marketing was weak and lackluster.

There is a saying on Wall Street: Only invest what you can afford to lose. Similarly, do not break your credit card limits or take out a second mortgage to fund your marketing, but do stretch yourself to support what you believe in. That could mean working OT, getting a side hustle, delaying a vacation, buying a cheaper car, or even deciding against a planned home renovation. Invest what you can afford to do.

In addition to money, the author’s greatest resource is her or his time. Pour in what needs to be done to learn and execute core book marketing functions — social media, website, book awards, speaking, news media, and networking.

What you don’t want to do is be a Ron Wayne. He pulled out of what was destined to be a monster pay-off. He stopped believing, feared risk, and gave up. He even screwed up again years later, when someone paid him just $500 to get the original contract that he had signed. It would eventually get resold for $2 million!

 

Don’t stop until you break through -- or you see evidence of actual rejection of your book and not of your marketing.

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,950,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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

 

 

 

Do Authors Know When To Pack It In & Move On?

 

It occurred to me recently that selling one’s home is akin to an author having to make big decisions about their book.

My in-laws, now in their early 80s, made a big move recently. They sold the house they had lived for a half-century and raised a family in. The walls that bore witness to the significant moments of their adult lives will now be the domain of another family. 

As they packed up their things, all kinds of memories came upon everything they touched. They made decisions on hundreds of items: keep, toss, or donate. But it was more than a process of finding a physical home for each item. It was about evaluating one’s life and reflecting on who they are becoming in contrast to who they were or think they are.

Our things have a way of conjuring reflections of a life lived with joy, accomplishment, and
love. But they can also remind us of regrets, shortcomings, losses, and missed opportunities. They have a way of attaching us to aspirations unfulfilled and get us thinking of what could or should have been.

Life has many mile markers in our early years. First steps, initial words, learning how to read and ride a bicycle, first kiss, first summer job. Lots of firsts.

Then we graduate from school and enter the working world. Marriage for many, kids for some, and divorce for half. We earn promotions, make career changes, and maybe even launch a business. Our vacations take us across the country and around the globe.

Whatever paths are taken, we eventually confront our advanced age and transitions need to be made. Perhaps authors need to also make certain transitions, choices, and changes. They have to decide when to write, how to publish and market, when to alter plans, and when to pack it in.

Most authors are slow to take action in each of the aforementioned areas. There is a natural propensity for procrastination that seems baked into an author’s DNA. Denial, divergence, avoidance, delay, and excuses are all in the author toolkit. But at some point, reality has to hit.

Once a writer puts a book out and crosses into being a published author, a meter of time, money, energy, and motivation starts ticking. Money tends to be the first to go. Authors hit different crossroads where they contemplate what to do next when marketing a book. They start to see the results — or lack of — in response to different initiatives. Hopes start to dwindle alongside anemic sales numbers. Optimism and good faith give way to anger, frustration, bitterness, and bewilderment.

So, when should an author pack it in?

If they tried their best for a sustained period of time and feel they have exhausted all reasonable opportunities, pack it in.
If they have run out of resources: money, time, or favors, pack it in.
If they received many rejections and bad reviews — as opposed to merely being ignored — pack it in.
If they no longer believe in their book, pack it in.

Not every book is a winner and all books have an expiration date when it comes to focused marketing. Never throw in the towel too soon, but don’t beat a dead horse, either.

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,850,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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