I got word yesterday that more major bookstores are closing and several others are on the verge. Maybe you’re losing bookstores in your area. First it was the mom and pop stores that we loved, but didn’t support well enough. And now the big ones are going under. We’re losing those great purveyors of books as well as some of the most pleasant hang-out spots in our communities.
Now if you think this isn’t going to affect you because you never buy books in bookstores, anyway, think again. If you’re an author or hope to be, this could seriously affect your chances at getting published. Why? Because it isn’t just the bookstores in your area that are being affected. The closing of bookstores is becoming a national epidemic. Unless Borders can negotiate a new deal with publishers, they could be doomed. They’re trying, as we speak, to arrange a different payment plan. Some publishers are refusing to ship anymore books to them. It’s getting messy.
So what happens if the bookstores keep losing ground and eventually crash? Publishers who have not looked beyond the bookstore for sales over all of these years, and who do not want to or don’t know how to change their approach to bookselling, will go under. And those who are willing to adjust with the times and the circumstances, will put additional burdens on their authors.
Times are changing at a rapid rate. With bookstores closing by the dozens, forward thinking publishers are scrambling to discover new methods of promoting books.
Publishers will expect more from authors and their publishing agreements may reflect a partnership as opposed to the traditional publisher-author contract. Even fiction publishers will rely more on their authors now that their main outlets for sales is on shaky ground. Thus, more publishers will request serious marketing plans for fiction as well as for nonfiction.
Some publishers will become more web savvy. They will have to do what they’ve been expecting their authors to do—become fully enmeshed in promotion via the web. Publishers might start hiring publicists for all of their authors, offer instruction on book promotion and come up with other ideas for supporting the promotional efforts of their authors.
Can’t you see that it will become even more important to publishers that their authors are marketing savvy?
With this in mind, I advise hopeful (and even seasoned) authors everywhere to start now honing their promotional skills and building on their platforms.
You may want to take my 6-week online, on-demand book promotion course. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm
Check out my websites: http://www.matilijapress.com (for a showcase of my books, informative articles and oodles of resources.)
http://www.patriciafry.com (for a FREE booklet and to learn more about my services.)