I read a statistic that estimates there were four million new books published in 2022 (sourced from https://www.zippia.com/advice/us-book-industry-statistics/). This includes all self-published books (at least 50%) and traditionally published textbooks and books for the trade.
This means there is a new book published every eight seconds or nearly 11,000 per day, every day of the year.
With our economics driven by “attention merchants,” we are flooded with efforts to attract our eyes and help us reach into our wallets. Is it any wonder publishers are looking for that extra edge from their authors to help garner that attention via the author’s platform?
A great book can still achieve a lot of attention via word-of-mouth, which gives us all hope.
Next time you click on a book listing or pluck a book off the store shelf, ask yourself why did you do that. What was it that made you click or pick? Now, ask what will create the same action for your book.
So very very many books,
so very sorry, little time
to let yours get its winsome hooks
into this busy heart of mine.
I scroll through Amazon at haste
to find the next specific title,
and I’m not inclined to waste
a glance on something less than vital,
but another there might catch my eye
on basis of its cover art,
and thus might well get a try,
audition for the coming part
and thus be added to the list
of readings I could not resist.
As a case in point, I recently read Alfred McLaren’s memoir of Cold War submarine service, Silent And Unseen. I was interested in another perspective, and looked up that title hoping to be well-guided by Amazon’s algorithms.
A book popped up with the cover showing a recognisably British nuke, and I immediately went there, checked the reviews, and bought it. I can’t recall the title (it’s still in transit).
Point being, the cover art was specific to the subject matter, and with a dearth of Brit boat memoirs, it stood out.
(I have been on a diesel boat as a rider, and can’t really explain why I want to read about this stuff except for maybe HaHa, I Don’t Have To Do This No More!).
Wow! That’s a lot of books being published. We should consider it a blessing if and when a publisher picks up our book. Next time I’m in a bookstore, I’ll ask those questions, Steve. It has been my routine to look for authors I know, but I’m occasionally drawn to a catchy title or a suspenseful cover, regardless of the author.
Wow! That’s an incredible number! I usually look for a specific author, then a biography, and then the cover. I only have so many hours to read for pleasure, since academia requires a lot of reading to stay current, so a book really has to draw my attention to get me to read it for pleasure.
Publishing a book is a dream shared by many aspiring authors, and with the advent of self-publishing platforms and services, this dream is now more accessible than ever before.