Each year, the pace of change accelerates in the book industry. There are more authors, more titles, and new places to shop and find out about books online. As a result, book marketing is changing to keep pace and has been forever transformed by the internet. If you're an author returning to the marketplace with a second or third book, you may need to adapt some of what you did the first time if it was more than a year or two ago. Authors and publicists who anticipate change and lead it are the ones who can expect the most success. Today's readers have higher expectations, and it helps to exceed them.
As readers are becoming savvier, so are authors. One of the trends today is the highly informed self-publishing author. They are finding ways to skip the traditional publishing houses and reach their readers directly. It takes more work and organization, but it also allows many people to publish books that might previously have been turned down. The rudimentary thing for a book to do is to sell copies and earn money – but becoming an author gives you a personal branding opportunity. You may be able to extend it far beyond the book to build highly profitable businesses and be influential for many years.
Smart authors also place a high priority on book publicity and marketing because they open many doors. It's possible to focus programs on selling books, but what's trending is to use the book PR campaign for more extensive and longer-term goals. Regardless of your priorities, more books have vigorous promotional programs supporting them, and you need one to compete. If you write and publish a book without attempting to publicize it, you won't get far. For people who have struggled for years to earn coverage, you have a golden opportunity with the book. Make sure you maximize it for your benefit.
Another trend is increasing respect for high-quality self-published books. If there had been a stigma in the past, it has diminished as time has elapsed. Today it's also common to hear about authors who self-publish their first book and are picked up by traditional publishers once they've become a success. More than a few choose to skip the initial process of trying to find a publisher and letting them come to you afterward. If there were rules in the past, more of them fall by the wayside each year. What everyone understands is that the market is dynamic and what counts the most is quality book content.
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