My friend and client at Wheatmark Frank Babb recently sent me the link to this thought-provoking essay in The Economist.
As the article notes, people have been predicting the death of the book—and even the death of reading itself—for more than a decade.
I’m not so sure about that, but one thing is certain: there are more books being published now than ever before!
According to Bowker, around 8,100 ISBNs were issued in 1960… compared to around 1.4 million in 2013!
That’s a lot of books—and that doesn’t even include all the self-published books that the author didn’t get an ISBN for.
Suffice it to say that the competition for readers is fiercer than ever!
That’s why it’s so important to invest in training programs like the Authors Academy and attend live, in-person events whenever you can.
Knowledge (and it’s application) is your greatest asset as an author.
I’ll be presenting on Choosing a Publishing Service at the Avondale Writers Conference in Avondale, AZ (a suburb of Phoenix) on November 15th. That’s next Saturday.
You can read all the details about the conference here.
If you’re in the area, or up for the drive on I-10 from Tucson, I’ll see you there!
Until then, let’s apply the immortal (though misquoted) words of Mark Twain to the death of the book:
“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
Happy Friday,
Grael
Grael Norton
Wheatmark, Inc.
PS: Remember, the conference is coming up next Saturday, so register now!
