Most likely, you are, in some way, touched by the book industry, whether you realize it or not. Maybe you are actually IN the industry—a publisher, cover designer, editor, or publicist. Maybe you are an author—either published or unpublished. Perhaps you are in the media and interview authors. Or maybe you just buy and read books.
Regardless of how you are involved, you have probably realized that, like most industries, the book world has undergone significant changes in the past five years. With the advent of the Internet and other technology, such as the e-book, and the increase in competition among authors and publishers, the book industry has become one of the most tumultuous industries, to the surprise of many.
First of all, it is considered a major accomplishment to find a publisher. As one well-known publisher puts it, “Everyone has a book in their heart. And for most people, it should stay there.” Because so many people want to write a book and every book needs to be published, either by a publishing house or self-published, it creates a dog-eat-dog environment. Many publishers have extremely strict guidelines for submission and are unable to respond to authors’ queries unless they are interested in the project. For this reason, many writers have opted for self-publishing or publishing in conjunction with so-called “vanity presses”.
Due to publishers taking on more books, their resources are typically stretched to capacity, including their in-house publicity departments. Many publishers are enlisting the help of independent publicity firms to assist with the ever-increasing workload. It is not uncommon for a publisher’s publicist to be working on 50 titles per season. Therefore, it is beneficial to the publisher, and the author, to hire an outside publicist.
For publicity purposes, it used to be enough to rely on print reviews to move books off the shelves of the bookstore. Publicity is no longer that simple. Now, in order to create a successful campaign, most books need a healthy combination of print reviews and feature stories, radio and television interviews and online reviews and articles.
The Internet has introduced a great deal of marketing opportunities for books. So much so that some publishers have created a separate publicity division for online media.Research shows that people who surf the web buy books. Therefore, the book industry has taken advantage of websites targeting niche groups of consumers, such as women’s sites and those for specific organizations. Other opportunities include publicists creating press rooms on their websites for media to search when looking for material, authors creating their own websites to attract consumers and selling books through online bookstores (Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com).
Mergers of publishing houses, distributors and booksellers have also played a part in the ever-changing book industry. It seems that most people associate the book industry with the antiquity of dusty book covers and warped pages. However, the book world is staying current with the times and is almost as turbulent as the high-tech industry. The many changes bring exciting times for all those involved. On a trip to your local bookstore, take a minute to realize what all goes into getting that book in your hands and how the world of books has changed over the years.
Marika Flatt is the National Media Director of Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists. You can contact her at marika@bookpros.com.
Writer's Niche |
Author Interviews |
Writing Articles |
Industry News
Chat | Scribes
World | Email
Webmaster
| Page designed and Maintained by: | ©2003 Web Design by Lisa Ramaglia |
| Web Design
by Lisa Ramaglia ~Web Pages at Affordable Prices |
 |