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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Writing Craft » Page 13

Writing Craft

Book Industry Trends

By Steve Laubeon November 7, 2022
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Publishing is partly an exercise in guessing what might be the next surprise bestseller. Some of it is an educated guess based on certain trends we see in the industry and in society at large. Any exercise in naming these trends bears the risk of expressing the obvious or being out of date the moment they are stated. So bear with me as I tinker with some of the factors that are either influencing trends or are trends within themselves.

The Blockbuster Mentality

If it were your money, you would likely “bet” on those book ideas you know will sell tens of thousands of copies. And only those who already have a track record are assured of a ready-made buying audience. In addition, for the nonfiction writer in particular, there is a demand for the author to have a visible or quantifiable platform from which they can launch their book ideas. Much ink has been spilled on defining platform and how to build one, and for a good reason.

Economically, a single blockbuster can make or break a publishing company’s bottom line for the year. Think of the impact The Five Love Languages, Jesus Calling, 90 Minutes in Heaven, The Shack, The Action Bible, Left Behind, God Gave Us You, and others have had on their prospective publisher’s profit. Those titles, published by Moody Publishing, Thomas Nelson/Harper Christian, Revell/Baker Publishing Group, FaithWords, David C. Cook, Tyndale, and Waterbrook/Multnomah respectively have each sold over one million copies and generated a windfall of revenue. No one could have predicted any of those bestsellers. But each has created a second book (or more), even a franchise. Every publisher wants one of their own.

The Power of the Brick and Mortar Retailer Is Changing

The demise of Family Bookstores, the closure of Lifeway and Cokesbury, as well as the shrinking shelf space at Walmart and other large retailers have had a huge impact on publishers’ acquisitions. In the past, those bookstore-chain accounts, along with Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million, could make or break the success of a single title. But the buying power of the brick-and-mortar stores has begun to wane as people have become increasingly comfortable with ordering online. Today it is that much harder to get the exposure necessary to launch new or midlist authors. Thus, the pressure to have a ready-made platform from which to sell those books.

E-books changed the game, but have settled and are no longer as disruptive. Instead, they are a vital part of a publisher’s offerings. Where we see disruption is the growth of subscription services like Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, and Epic. Publishers and indie authors are constantly exploring new ways to launch books without relying on traditional sales channels.

Risk Management Instead of Risk Taking

Economic pressure has caused a number of publishers to be more cautious than ever before when acquiring a new author (not necessarily a debut author but someone new to their company). It is part of the first trend mentioned above. Some of my publisher friends would argue that this has always been the case, and they are right to an extent. Fiscal responsibility has always been a part of the publishing equation. And yet we agents can see an overall shift since the economic challenges of the last few years. Many predict hard times in the near future, and publishers are not immune.

This situation affects us too. We must constantly make decisions about representing books or authors based on whether or not we think we can sell them. While one might argue that the lack of sale is without risk to the agent, I would argue that “time is money” and time spent on a failed project is time lost forever.

Advances paid to an author are being squeezed. Or the full payment is spread out over time so that the publisher’s outlay is closer to the revenue received on publication.

Printing costs have increased in the past year by nearly 40%. The timeline from placing a print order to receipt of the physical books has doubled if not tripled in time. Paper shortages are plaguing the supply chain.

A Pox on Your Trends!

I can hear the groans many of you have made while reading this. In fact, I have about four or five other bullet points that sound increasingly morbid and depressing. As I looked at them all together, I actually smiled, believe it or not. I wrote many of these same words ten years ago and was spot on. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

If publishing were easy, anyone could do it and be successful. That is why it is called work. I take these “trends” and have to say, “Okay, glad to know that. So let’s get busy.” Instead of reading doom and gloom and the sky-is-falling, I suggest we see the incredible opportunities we have before us.

It Is a Great Time to Be a Writer

Our agency has been incredibly busy this year, closing on multiple new contracts every week (over 120 new book deals from January to October). It has been astounding to see how many books are being written by our clients. This is both exciting and encouraging. It is truly a great time to be a writer. There are so many places for your ideas and your words to find an audience. While it is hard, I can’t name a time when it was ever easy. Therefore, take the challenge and do the work and enjoy the richness of changing our world word by word.

 

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Category: Book Business, Contracts, E-Books, Get Published, TrendsTag: book industry, Trends

Attend the 2023 Write-to-Publish Conference

By Steve Laubeon October 31, 2022
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I am very pleased to announce that the Christian Writers Institute (CWI) has taken over the operation and management of the venerable Write-to-Publish Conference (WTP) held every June in Wheaton, Illinois. This conference has been in operation for over 50 years, and we are very excited to add this event to the offerings of CWI. After owning and running the event for the last 28 years, Lin Johnson …

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Category: Christian Writers Institute, Conferences

A Few Edited Words

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 12, 2022
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Sometimes writers will ask me if, as a literary agent, I edit manuscripts before submitting them to publishers. I choose not to touch a manuscript for several reasons: (1) I love your writing, so I don’t think you need my edits. (2)  I worked for many years as a professional writer but not as a professional editor. (3)  Since I have worked as a professional writer, I understand the emotions behind …

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Category: Agents, Editing, Grammar, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Publishing Is Publishing

By Dan Balowon October 6, 2022
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Every part of the book publishing ecosystem adjusted its perspective to accommodate both traditional publishing and author-published works. It wasn’t long ago these two paths were treated as either/or decisions; but now they are both/and. Many traditional publishers offer author-paid services, some agents have indie services for clients, and a large number of authors publish both traditional and …

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Category: Book Business, Book Business, Indie, Marketing, Self-Publishing, Trends

How to Find Historical Prices

By Steve Laubeon October 3, 2022
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With inflation in the news, it is becoming a bit more difficult to calculate the current buying power of a dollar when compared to the past. (The Phoenix area where we live has experienced 13% inflation in the past year.) But this isn’t a post about inflation. Instead, it is a method to help you with your research. I made $1.80 an hour stuffing envelopes for my first job with a paycheck. I …

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Category: Writing CraftTag: prices, Research

Quote the Bible … Carefully

By Steve Laubeon September 26, 2022
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It is important to treat the use of quoting the Bible like you would in quoting any source material. Too frequently I run across an author who has not bothered to take that step. But they should. The Word of God is powerful and should not be taken for granted. There are many readers who admit to skipping over Bible verses when quoted in full. The thought is that they are already familiar with …

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Category: Copyright, Craft, Writing CraftTag: Bible citations, Bible quotations, copy edit, evernote, quotations

What Makes Readers Cross Genres?

By Bob Hostetleron September 22, 2022
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Genre is important. For many reasons, it’s crucial for a writer to know the genre he or she is writing in and to know it well. In some cases, the devoted readers of a certain genre have defined expectations. For example, they may expect certain tropes and taboos to be observed (even if they’ve never thought about their expectations). After all, there are reasons readers prefer certain genres. And …

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Category: Craft, Genre

The Myth of the Unearned Advance

By Steve Laubeon September 12, 2022
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[I wrote much of this article back in 2011. Upon review, I stand by the analysis. I’ve left the past comments to accentuate the discussion.] ______________ A common myth permeating the industry is that a book is not profitable if the author’s advance does not earn out. I would like to attempt to dispel this myth. First, let’s define the term “advance.” When a book contract is created between …

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Category: Book Business, Career, Money, Writing CraftTag: Agents, Book Business, Contracts, Get Published, Money, Traditional Publishing

Food vs. Medicine Books

By Dan Balowon September 7, 2022
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Even though this topic could be applicable to just about any type of book, we’ll be looking at those in the Christian publishing category today. Categorizing books has been part of publishing for a very long time. Officially, there are over four dozen primary book categories designated by the BISAC coding system, which spin off to thousands of subcategories. For example, one of the primary …

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Category: Book Business, Christian, Creativity, Theology

Grammar Refresh

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon August 31, 2022
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By popular demand, here is another grammar refresh. Lie/Lay “Lay” means to place something, whereas “lie” means that the object of the sentence can lie on its own. I will lay my blanket on the bed before I lie down. A trick I use to distinguish between these quickly is to use the word “place” as a substitute. If you can say “place” then you can say lay. If not, then it’s lie. I will place my …

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Category: Grammar, Writing Craft
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