The Steve Laube Agency

The pace of change in book publishing is accelerating. Previously, major shifts occurred every 10 years, then every 5, then every 2. Now, it seems like something causes a tremor every year.

I recall about 20 years ago, when a major publisher announced the layoff of about two dozen staffers and then, a few weeks later, posted the same number of job openings, with different duties and requirements. What was required one month was not valued the next.

We intuitively know that most of the things we remember from the past, in all areas of life, are tainted by a good dose of nostalgia, rather than by reality. This is never truer than in book publishing. For example, you might be stuck in the past if you think things were more affordable several decades ago.

In the last 40 years, the cumulative inflation rate in the US is over 200%, which means prices have tripled. During that time, the average income per person in the US has gone up about fourfold. In reality, books are more affordable now than 40 years ago or, at worst, the same.

Other indicators that your view of book publishing might be stuck in the past:

Bookstores are supremely important to the publishing industry.

Sort of, but not nearly as much as they used to be, before online sales of all book formats made up well over 60% of all book sales.  In one sense, when bookstores were the primary way to sell books, they limited the number of books that could be published since most bookstores could only stock a fraction of the total of any publisher’s titles. Publishers would be competing with themselves for shelf space if they increased title output. Online selling has enabled more books to be published.

Author platforms are a recent construct of book publishers.

Not true at all. The only thing that has changed is what makes up that platform. When newspaper and magazine columnists were the thought-leaders of the country, every publisher pursued them. In the Christian market, authors had radio and/or television programs or large ministries. Then pastors of megachurches. Publishers have always sought authors with existing connections to an audience. The only difference today is the type of activities that make those connections.

Books were of better quality many years ago.

Maybe this is true, but only because there were relatively few books published and there was much more focus on each one in the writing and editorial process, involving handwritten manuscripts, typewriters, and reams and reams of paper. One hundred years ago in the US, there was one new book published for every 9,000 people in the country (according to Publishers Weekly) or about 12,000 new books per year.

Today, with self-publishing and traditional publishing combined, there is one new book published for every 85 people in the US, or about 4 million per year (Publishers Weekly).

There are very few barriers and gatekeepers to getting a book published, and the systems are in place to support almost unlimited growth in the number of titles.

Maybe that’s not a good thing. But for sure, compared to a handful of decades ago, considering all the above items, this is the golden age for anyone who wants to write a book and get it published by whatever means they can.

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