Where do authors fit in the trends of marketing/publishing

In a recent survey sponsored by the organizers of the 2007 Frankfurt Book Fair in October the industry was asked where the major areas of growth are for the industry in the coming years. They responded with the following:

1. 44 percent of respondents identified the use of e-books
2. 41 percent identified audiobooks, many of which are now available as downloads
3. As the world becomes increasingly globalized, 27 percent of respondents saw books in translation (much of the business of the Frankfurt Book Fair) as a growth area.
4. 27 percent identified educational publishing

You can view the entire survey on the Frankfurter BuchMesse site. Tom Masters, of Future Perfect Publishing makes the following predictions. Although these are just personal opinions, as an author who is promoting his or her own books, each opinon should be taken into consideration and how it does or could impact you. I've highlighted some important facts authors should be aware of, in my opinion.

• More publishing will not undermine the market for books. To the contrary, it will expand it into new areas. Though the market will continue to fragment into ever finer niches and sub-niches, we will find ever more efficient ways to aggregate the fragments.

>>>> I agree whole-heartedly! People are much more able to find exactly the kind of information they want quickly and then expand to broaden their vision and needs. In the past, one had to find the general subject and try to adapt it to your situation.

• e-books will continue to in sales, but like audio books, will remain a small part of the overall publishing market.

>>>> Ebooks give people a different kind of information. I buy a lot of informational ebooks. Some are amazing and stuffed full of information that would have taken me years to compile if I even had the time. Some are a waste of money. But the average book-buyer is a different audience than the ebook buyer. As internet marketing increases and everyone tries to figure out how to get rich, ebook sales will continue to grow. Audio books likely will stay in the loop due to all our digital gadgets like ipods.

• The printed book, far from being eclipsed by digital media, will become a type of digital media itself - think e-paper and conductive ink - and attain a new coolness factor.

>>>> I never had a desire for an iphone. But as someone who reads 2-3 books per week, I am trying to tell myself I want the new Amazon Kindle because it's practical. Okay, I'll admit it. I want to be the cool one too. One of the first authors to show it to my friends and say, "See how easy this is? You can carry 300 books at once!" (Like they'd ever want 300 books.) I think the sales of Amazon's Kindle (and their "out of stock status" despite the $399 price factor) backs this up! I know I want one. And after seeing Sony's version at Borders today and realizing how amazing the non-glare screen is, I'm sold! I just need to budget for it now.

• The hand-wringing over literacy will turn out to be misguided, much as each generation’s hand-wringing over evolving language usage patterns of younger generations.

>>>>They say text messaging actually helps kids spell better. I haven't figured out this methodology yet, but was it a 16-year-old who did the research? We'll see...

• Authors will become more important than publishers and the various elements of the traditional book marketing machine. Savvy authors will use the Internet both as a vehicle to build an audience while they develop their work, and as a tool to generate low cost, but highly effective market buzz and book sales.

>>>> Did you see that key word there? SAVVY authors... that's what it's all about, friends. There are millions of authors, but the savvy ones will sell books, the others will give them to grandma to pass out to her friends. That's why blogs like this are so important--so we can all share and compare what works and what doesn't. We want to make the Internet work for us, not the other way around.

• During the next decade or two, we will see the end (or the substantial diminshing) of physical book distribution and the end of book returns. In combination with better analytics for selecting and managing titles, this will make book publishing a highly profitable business.

>>>> Good news for all those authors who have boxes of books in their garages, closets, storage units.

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Lisa and Joel Copen have a variety of experience in founding a nonprofit that receieves over 80,000 visitors per month, music and sound editing, web design, and book marketing and publishing. They look forward to your ideas to make the series of ebooks on book promotion a practical tool to help you sell more books!