The Ten Awful Book Publishing Truths
I recently came across an excellent summary of the harsh realities of modern publishing and thought it would be interesting to discuss the findings.
1) The number of books being published every year has exploded.
Today, anyone can use a free online word processor and free eBook/print-on-demand tool to self-publish anything. Readers can verify this fact by seeing the 30 new entries per hour on the Amazon Kindle eBook’s new release section. The article concluded, “2.3 million books were self-published in the US in 2021.”
While I have no inside knowledge of the publishing numbers, it is clear new books are being released by the truckload. This onslaught results in intense marketplace competition and low chances of success.
2) The book marketplace has become over-saturated.
The article quotes, “There are 40 million ISBN registrations,” and concludes, “The marketplace simply cannot absorb all these books. At the same time, people are getting more and more of their information from the internet and from social media.”
In any venture, there is bound to be competition. My mistake was assuming that a good book sells itself and that companies like Amazon would work hard to promote new authors. Nothing could be further from the truth.
How do readers choose what next book to read in the sea of available books? Comb through a million book reviews? Look at the total positive reviews? Read internet recommendations? Turn to social media? See what book Amazon recommends? Only buy books from established authors? Get a book that was made into a movie?
The book market was limited to a few bestselling authors and choices. For kids, it was The Hearty Boys or Nancy Drew. For adults, it was epic adventure novels by James Michener and romance books by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Now, thousands of authors compete for scraps in each reading category, which is only getting worse.
3) The book marketplace has hardly grown at all in the past 20 years despite the explosion of books published.
The article quotes data from the Association of American Publishers, but I found a chart from Statista that graphically sums up the situation.
Today, anyone can use a free online word processor and free eBook/print-on-demand tool to self-publish anything. Readers can verify this fact by seeing the 30 new entries per hour on the Amazon Kindle eBook’s new release section. The article concluded, “2.3 million books were self-published in the US in 2021.”
While I have no inside knowledge of the publishing numbers, it is clear new books are being released by the truckload. This onslaught results in intense marketplace competition and low chances of success.
2) The book marketplace has become over-saturated.
The article quotes, “There are 40 million ISBN registrations,” and concludes, “The marketplace simply cannot absorb all these books. At the same time, people are getting more and more of their information from the internet and from social media.”
In any venture, there is bound to be competition. My mistake was assuming that a good book sells itself and that companies like Amazon would work hard to promote new authors. Nothing could be further from the truth.
How do readers choose what next book to read in the sea of available books? Comb through a million book reviews? Look at the total positive reviews? Read internet recommendations? Turn to social media? See what book Amazon recommends? Only buy books from established authors? Get a book that was made into a movie?
The book market was limited to a few bestselling authors and choices. For kids, it was The Hearty Boys or Nancy Drew. For adults, it was epic adventure novels by James Michener and romance books by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Now, thousands of authors compete for scraps in each reading category, which is only getting worse.
3) The book marketplace has hardly grown at all in the past 20 years despite the explosion of books published.
The article quotes data from the Association of American Publishers, but I found a chart from Statista that graphically sums up the situation.
From the graph, book sales have not changed since 2004. This is despite the incredible online sales growth, payment options, and hundreds of new books coming out daily. Simply put, the core group of readers has increased the number of books they buy even though the market has radically expanded.
4) Average book sales are shockingly small—and falling fast.
The article quotes, “Even if e-book sales, audio sales, sales outside of the US, and sales outside of retail channels are added in, the average new book published today is selling much less than 1,000 copies over its lifetime in all formats and all markets.”
Wow, that is depressing, but it makes sense. Reading a book requires time, money, and effort. Watching a YouTube video? It is a lot easier, and the visuals make the experience better. I cannot blame people for not wanting to read.
5) A book has far less than a 1 percent chance of being stocked in a particular bookstore.
The article quotes, “For every available bookstore shelf space, there are 100 to 1,000 or more titles competing.” “Millions of business books in print are fighting for that limited shelf space.”
I admit to being quite naïve when I first started writing. I thought, “If you create a good book, it will be popular enough for bookstores to carry.” Days after I put my first book on sale, this idealistic concept was smashed. I cannot imagine a future where one of my books would ever be found in a place like Barnes & Noble. Yet… My four books are available print on demand and eBook on their site. So, I am still fighting my way to the top.
6) It is getting harder and harder every year to sell new titles.
The article quotes, “In 2005, sales of new titles accounted for 48 percent of retail book sales in the US, but today, new titles sales have shrunk to only 32 percent of retail book sales.”
I certainly know the reality of trying to break into this competitive market. Getting a reader to pick up one of my books is a big ask. And I admit it. I am a nobody author, and my books have a limited hook. Why? There are so many books, making it astoundingly difficult to carve out a new plot. Romance, spy novel, fantasy, or vampire? Been done to death.
And I get it. I am an avid reader, and finding something good is challenging. For example, I enjoy WWII themes, but every new book I learn about looks unappealing. Why? All they do is retell established stories. So, it makes perfect sense to me why the market is shrinking.
7) Most books today are selling only to the authors’ and publishers’ communities.
The article quotes, “People are reading only books that their communities consider important or even mandatory to read. There is no general audience for most nonfiction books, and chasing after such a mirage is usually far less effective than connecting with one’s communities.”
Society has become a collection of islands of interest. There is so much media out there that we must form communities to protect ourselves from the title wave of new and old material. Thus, if your favorite YouTube personality recommends a book, you will likely read it.
Take the Walking Dead franchise that began in 2010. It was wildly popular with spinoffs, other zombie media, and merchandise. But… What if you do not enjoy this kind of story? Readers and television watchers must go far out of their way to avoid zombie-themed media. How? By watching channels or going places online where such topics were not popular.
Great, we have avoided zombie media. But what if I wrote a fantastic zombie book and that is not your interest? How could I convince you to buy a copy? Wow, getting you to jump off your island and swim to mine will be challenging. Quite simply, it is an impossible ask.
8) Most book marketing today is done by authors, not by publishers.
The article quotes, “Publishers have managed to stay afloat in this worsening marketplace by shifting more and more marketing responsibility to authors—to cut costs and prop up sales.”
I have said it before, and I will repeat it. “Being an author is 99% self-promotion and 1% other.” Nobody is helping me sell my books because it is not cost-effective. I envision this trend worsening, and companies like Amazon will intentionally relegate new authors to the lowest rung of book searches. Why? It is in their best interest.
9) No other industry has so many new-product introductions.
The article quotes, “The average new book generates only $10,000 to $50,000 in sales.” “This limits how much publishers can invest in any one new book and in its marketing campaign.”
The problem with a book is that it must stand on its own. Take a new car. A family can buy a new car, use it for errands, and get the kids to school. Or that same car could be purchased by a business and used to deliver legal documents. Or that same car could sit in the garage and never be used.
A book is vastly different. It has the single purpose of conveying hyper-specific information. The effort a self-published author or publishing company must undertake to get readers interested is epic. For 99.999% of the new books, it does not make sense for a publisher to invest.
I see the problem getting far worse because the number of choices is rising. Simply put, publishing is a losing game se.
10) The book publishing world is in a never-ending state of change.
The article quotes, “The thin margins in the industry, high complexities of the business, intense competition, severe supply-chain disruptions, churning of new technologies, and rapid growth of other media lead to constant turmoil in bookselling and publishing.”
This is the one area that I disagree. Life is constantly changing, and I do not see the publishing world to be any different than the car companies, the stock market, or politics. Yes, eBooks and the internet have crushed traditional publishing, resulting in many new books, but the path is not changing. People buy books they want to read and ignore the other junk.
Authors face great competition, new authors are trying to break into the game, and millions of excellent books are available. And it gets far worse. “Hey, Siri. Use AI to generate a story about horses.” Then, some computer churns out an excellent story. This is being done now and will only get better in the future.
My point is that this pattern is not changing. If a reader likes a story about horses, there are many books to choose from, and will be more in the future. I cannot envision a “new” book market, readers running out of books, or something that will replace books.
Seeing the blunt publishing facts in this article made for a depressing read, but I was not surprised. I have been attempting to be a successful author for a while, and while the light at the end of the tunnel is visible, there is a long journey ahead.
Yet, this leaves an open question to me. What if I had read this article before I went down this path? I would have known that the chance of success was microscopic. I began writing with the idea, “If I write a good book, it will sell.” So, I am not sure if the article would have been a big enough slap in the face to convince me not to have perused writing.
What I can say is that I have enjoyed the path. I have met several wonderful authors online, created something I am proud of, and learned a lot. So, the journey has been rewarding even though the meager money I have earned is nowhere near covering my editing costs and likely never will.
And that is fine. Want proof? Hey, you just read my words. That is all the proof I need.
You’re the best -Bill
February 05, 2025
4) Average book sales are shockingly small—and falling fast.
The article quotes, “Even if e-book sales, audio sales, sales outside of the US, and sales outside of retail channels are added in, the average new book published today is selling much less than 1,000 copies over its lifetime in all formats and all markets.”
Wow, that is depressing, but it makes sense. Reading a book requires time, money, and effort. Watching a YouTube video? It is a lot easier, and the visuals make the experience better. I cannot blame people for not wanting to read.
5) A book has far less than a 1 percent chance of being stocked in a particular bookstore.
The article quotes, “For every available bookstore shelf space, there are 100 to 1,000 or more titles competing.” “Millions of business books in print are fighting for that limited shelf space.”
I admit to being quite naïve when I first started writing. I thought, “If you create a good book, it will be popular enough for bookstores to carry.” Days after I put my first book on sale, this idealistic concept was smashed. I cannot imagine a future where one of my books would ever be found in a place like Barnes & Noble. Yet… My four books are available print on demand and eBook on their site. So, I am still fighting my way to the top.
6) It is getting harder and harder every year to sell new titles.
The article quotes, “In 2005, sales of new titles accounted for 48 percent of retail book sales in the US, but today, new titles sales have shrunk to only 32 percent of retail book sales.”
I certainly know the reality of trying to break into this competitive market. Getting a reader to pick up one of my books is a big ask. And I admit it. I am a nobody author, and my books have a limited hook. Why? There are so many books, making it astoundingly difficult to carve out a new plot. Romance, spy novel, fantasy, or vampire? Been done to death.
And I get it. I am an avid reader, and finding something good is challenging. For example, I enjoy WWII themes, but every new book I learn about looks unappealing. Why? All they do is retell established stories. So, it makes perfect sense to me why the market is shrinking.
7) Most books today are selling only to the authors’ and publishers’ communities.
The article quotes, “People are reading only books that their communities consider important or even mandatory to read. There is no general audience for most nonfiction books, and chasing after such a mirage is usually far less effective than connecting with one’s communities.”
Society has become a collection of islands of interest. There is so much media out there that we must form communities to protect ourselves from the title wave of new and old material. Thus, if your favorite YouTube personality recommends a book, you will likely read it.
Take the Walking Dead franchise that began in 2010. It was wildly popular with spinoffs, other zombie media, and merchandise. But… What if you do not enjoy this kind of story? Readers and television watchers must go far out of their way to avoid zombie-themed media. How? By watching channels or going places online where such topics were not popular.
Great, we have avoided zombie media. But what if I wrote a fantastic zombie book and that is not your interest? How could I convince you to buy a copy? Wow, getting you to jump off your island and swim to mine will be challenging. Quite simply, it is an impossible ask.
8) Most book marketing today is done by authors, not by publishers.
The article quotes, “Publishers have managed to stay afloat in this worsening marketplace by shifting more and more marketing responsibility to authors—to cut costs and prop up sales.”
I have said it before, and I will repeat it. “Being an author is 99% self-promotion and 1% other.” Nobody is helping me sell my books because it is not cost-effective. I envision this trend worsening, and companies like Amazon will intentionally relegate new authors to the lowest rung of book searches. Why? It is in their best interest.
9) No other industry has so many new-product introductions.
The article quotes, “The average new book generates only $10,000 to $50,000 in sales.” “This limits how much publishers can invest in any one new book and in its marketing campaign.”
The problem with a book is that it must stand on its own. Take a new car. A family can buy a new car, use it for errands, and get the kids to school. Or that same car could be purchased by a business and used to deliver legal documents. Or that same car could sit in the garage and never be used.
A book is vastly different. It has the single purpose of conveying hyper-specific information. The effort a self-published author or publishing company must undertake to get readers interested is epic. For 99.999% of the new books, it does not make sense for a publisher to invest.
I see the problem getting far worse because the number of choices is rising. Simply put, publishing is a losing game se.
10) The book publishing world is in a never-ending state of change.
The article quotes, “The thin margins in the industry, high complexities of the business, intense competition, severe supply-chain disruptions, churning of new technologies, and rapid growth of other media lead to constant turmoil in bookselling and publishing.”
This is the one area that I disagree. Life is constantly changing, and I do not see the publishing world to be any different than the car companies, the stock market, or politics. Yes, eBooks and the internet have crushed traditional publishing, resulting in many new books, but the path is not changing. People buy books they want to read and ignore the other junk.
Authors face great competition, new authors are trying to break into the game, and millions of excellent books are available. And it gets far worse. “Hey, Siri. Use AI to generate a story about horses.” Then, some computer churns out an excellent story. This is being done now and will only get better in the future.
My point is that this pattern is not changing. If a reader likes a story about horses, there are many books to choose from, and will be more in the future. I cannot envision a “new” book market, readers running out of books, or something that will replace books.
Seeing the blunt publishing facts in this article made for a depressing read, but I was not surprised. I have been attempting to be a successful author for a while, and while the light at the end of the tunnel is visible, there is a long journey ahead.
Yet, this leaves an open question to me. What if I had read this article before I went down this path? I would have known that the chance of success was microscopic. I began writing with the idea, “If I write a good book, it will sell.” So, I am not sure if the article would have been a big enough slap in the face to convince me not to have perused writing.
What I can say is that I have enjoyed the path. I have met several wonderful authors online, created something I am proud of, and learned a lot. So, the journey has been rewarding even though the meager money I have earned is nowhere near covering my editing costs and likely never will.
And that is fine. Want proof? Hey, you just read my words. That is all the proof I need.
You’re the best -Bill
February 05, 2025
