by
Maggie Lynch
I’m going to modify my predictions
for next year to focus exclusively on Indie publishing—also known as
Self-Publishing. The reason is that the publishing playing field is no longer
weighted toward traditional publishers. In fact, it’s not even the level playing
field it was in 2013 or 2014. I believe the market is now clearly tilted toward
indie authors. The stigma of self-publishing is no longer looming large. Indie
authors have increased their professionalism and their business savvy. Indie
published books are regularly on all the bestseller’s lists, often holding 50%
or more of the slots. Authors who have left traditional publishing to turn
Indie did so to make more money and, the majority are very happy with their
results.
The Top Trends I’m Seeing
I know most people do Top 10, but
I’m going to stick to the top five. These five are enough to scare me into
action in 2017. The overriding technological change that impacts the entire
digital landscape is the role of smart phone use in society. According to PEW
Research on Internet use, in 2015 over 68% of Americans had a smart phone, and
the rest of the world is quickly moving to catch up. It is predicted that by
2020 global smartphone subscriptions will double. By 2020, 70% of people
worldwide will use smartphones, and 90 percent will be covered by mobile
broadband networks. As you evaluate my top five trends, keep this in mind and consider
how it will change the way you create and sell your stories.
1. Mobile Reading is Now the Norm – Many pundits have been
predicting mobile reading for the future. I know I’ve been talking about the
swell of tablet use for at least four years—predicting it will become the
reading device of the future. Well, the future is now and I’ve been surprised. According
to The Wall Street Journal more people are reading books on their phones than
on tablets, and almost no one is reading on desktop computers. Though many
people own an e-reader (Kindle, Nook, Kobo), device sales have slowed
substantially in favor of phones. In May of 2016 PEW research reported that not
only were people reading more on their phones, but they engaged with reading
longer as the word count went up! News
articles that were longer than 5K words had greater engagement than the 250-500
word articles.
Why is phone reading such a boon? I
would have not guessed people would be content to read long articles or books
on a 5” x 4” screen and sometimes smaller. The answer is “convenience.” A phone
is something people have with them all the time—waiting in line, on a commute, at
their desk, at home in a pocket while they do chores, in a restaurant, and when
visiting with friends. The phone is now a multi-purpose device: a computer, a search
mechanism and research tool, a dictation device, a way to engage socially, a
news distributor, a book manager, a video streamer, a calendar manager, and at
the bottom of the list it is also a phone. Do people actually talk on the phone
anymore? On a worldwide level, currently 52% of readers around the world read
on their smart phones. And another 12% are reading on tablets. That means the market is moving away from
single use devices, like a specific e-reader toward app-based reading. A smart
phone or tablet can have multiple apps on it—not tying a reader to one source
for their content.
What does that mean to authors? On
the design side, it means think about phone displays when designing covers. Yes
covers can be enlarged on the phone, but it is still limited to that 3” x 4”
screen of most smart phones. Don’t count on a 20” desktop screen or even a
tablet larger than 8” to reach the majority of readers. Also, think about
simplification of your text to make it easy to scroll quickly, without jumps, and
keep the story intact. Instead of extra fancy fonts, dividers, drop caps and
images taking up space in your text, consider something that is neat and readable.
Certainly a nice font is important, and distinction between italics and normal.
Even a bolded heading is fine. But not much more is desired or necessary.
Author and book marketing in a
mobile world means focusing more on email, Facebook, Twitter, and other social
media as the point of engagement with readers. Websites, blogs, any sales
venues MUST be responsive. That means they must automatically resize based on
the device. They must be easy to navigate on a phone. Calls-to-action need to
be clear and easy to access with immediate reward. Advanced marketers are
looking to strategies that link to easy downloads of content at transit
locations: airports, hotels, trains, tourist and business destinations.
2. Audiobooks are the fastest growth area for the book publishing industry. According to the Audiobook
Publishers Association (APA). The market grew by 27% in 2014, 38% in 2015, and
though data for 2016 won’t be available until three to four months into 2017, first
and second quarter reports put growth in the 37% range. Smartphones again play
a critical role in audiobook consumption. Buyers report listening to audiobooks
while watching children’s sports practices, handling rote tasks at work or at
home, while commuting on buses and trains, and while exercising.
The key for author success in
Audiobooks is choosing the right narrator. Good narrators have a certain
celebrity following among listeners. Those who do a good job narrating
bestselling titles become recognized—just as a great actor is recognized when a
movie hits big. Listeners seek out specific narrators without regard to the
book’s author. Savvy authors invest in
audiobooks at the front end as a valuable reimagining of their book—one that
requires an outstanding performance of the author’s work. One cannot invest in
it as an afterthought or something to be done on the cheap. It won’t compete
well in the marketplace.
I had plans to narrate my own
books, as I do have voice over experience. But seeing how the market has
matured, I will now have to save to pay a professional actor (narrator) who has
a following. Not to do so is to sink money that won’t see a return on
investment for years, if ever.
NOTE: Though this is the fastest growth
industry, it is still only 14% of all book sales. If you are evaluating where
to spend money on a limited budget, audiobooks may not yet be the place to
invest if you haven’t built a good fanbase in print and/or e-books first.
3. Print Books Are Still Important. According to a May
2016 PEW Research survey, 65% of Americans still read print books.
NOTE: The majority of print books sold are non-fiction.
This percentage does vary widely by age, education, and genre with non-college
educated individuals preferring to read electronically. But overall, 65% is still significant.
Furthermore, approximately 30% of people read both e-books and print books.
This tells me that authors who are
digital-only are missing an important part of the market. Yes, it continues to
be difficult for any author—traditional or indie—to get a print book stocked in
bookstores or in their local library. However, it pays to keep trying. Also,
though independent bookstores are thriving—they are thriving in cities and
large swaths of countryside do not have bookstores with large collections. So,
print books are purchased online. Whenever possible, indie authors need to have
a POD version of their book for those readers who prefer that option.
4. Controlling Reader Information is Critical. Given the mobile trend overall,
and the fact that online purchases exceed local bookstore purchases, it is more
critical than ever that authors find a way to know who their readers are and
who is buying or not buying in order to target promotions and advertising more
effectively. Third party vendors do not share purchaser information with you,
even when they distribute your book. Keeping buyer information to themselves is
the biggest asset a vendor has for further sales and creating loyalty.
If you engage with your readers on
Facebook or Twitter, Pinterest or Snapchat, do you know who your readers are?
Can you contact them on your own, without paying an intermediary through
advertising? If one of these places go down (remember My Space?) or is no
longer popular, do you still have a way to get to your readers and migrate them
to a new popular platform? Technology change has taught us just that digital
players can disappear quickly or be bought by someone else. If only third party
vendors know who your readers are, you are truly an economic prisoner to their
software system and what they decide your role can be, as well as how much they
are willing to pay you for your intellectual property.
Many authors don’t think about controlling
reader information until it’s too late. All of these wonderful mobile sites do
great things to find readers and market to them and it’s easy to become
complacent and let them do all that work. However, if you have 1/3rd of your
sales with a vendor who goes out of business or decides to take a significantly
larger cut, your income is drastically reduced. This means you MUST find a way
to get that reader contact information yourself—names and emails. Just like
vendors, you need to build your largest asset—your customers. The larger your list of true fans, the better
sales will result and the more opportunities you create for discovery of your
books by new readers.
5. Discoverability and Marketing are Inseparable. In the early days of indie
publishing, 2009-2011, the number of authors participating and the number of
titles produced was significantly smaller. The chance for a good author to
develop a following based on a well-written book and some buzz was decent—not
easy but possible. In 2015, according to
Bowker, over 700,000 books were self-published. And that number is probably low
because many e-books that are self-published do not use an ISBN, which is how
Bowker tracks books. Many market researchers predict it is well over 1 million
self-published books that are put out each year. The backlist of indie titles is
over 13 million already.
This means that even well-written
books, with a dozen good reviews, have a hard time finding an audience without
an investment of marketing time and dollars. And, even if you invest those
dollars and time, the upward discoverability and sales trends fall off fairly
quickly the minute you stop investing.
An author can no longer wait for
discovery, or depend on the craft of writing alone to get ahead. She must also
drive readers to her books through a large mailing list, through advertising,
and through consistent brand awareness. That does cost money. If you invest in
one thing in 2017, invest in a reputable class that teaches you what works and
what doesn’t in advertising and building a mailing list of true fans. Then take
the time to implement all the steps to make it work. It is not a learn one day
and implement it the next type of process. Then budget those dollars every
month for implementation. Even bestselling authors continuously invest in
marketing in order to maintain their bestselling status.
The good news is indie authors have
a good potential to make more money than ever. Many traditional authors turned
indie in order to make more money on their creative properties and with lots of
hard work have finally been able to do this as a career. But it doesn’t come
easy. It is still hard work—from the creation of a good book to getting
discovered, and building a fan base that will return again and again to the buy
the next book you write and tell all their friends.
Good Luck in 2017!
Maggie Lynch is the author of 20+ published books, as well as numerous short stories and non-fiction articles. Her fiction tells stories of men and women making heroic choices one messy moment at a time. In addition to writing, Maggie enjoys teaching about the business of writing and marketing. She teaches online for All Writer’s Workshops and will be moving classes to video in 2017. She is also a frequent speaker at conferences and for master classes at writer’s groups around the country.
Maggie and her musician husband have settled in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where she writes and teaches full time. Her adult fiction spans romance, suspense and SF titles under the name Maggie Jaimeson. She writes urban fantasy and YA under th name Maggie Faire. Her non-fiction titles are found under Maggie McVay Lynch. You can learn about her books and her classes at her website; http://maggielynch.com
