Booklets, Books, and Bookstores - NOT

The traditional publishing model has been ailing for decades. You know, the one where you have a great idea for a book, find an agent, the agent shops the book around to traditional publishers, a publisher offers you an advance payment against future royalties so you can live while you write your book, the publication is at least a year away, the publisher prints and distributes the book to bookstores, the bookstores keep small quantities of your book on the shelf for a limited amount of time, they return the ones that didn't sell (which are most of them, in unresalable condition), and you make no money. Oh, and you also got to plan and deliver most of the publicity about the book yourself.

Yes, that publishing model.

In fact, most of the components of that process are now dead or at least drastically modified. Yet many authors continue approaching publishing expecting it to be as it was decades ago, sick then and sicker now.

It makes no sense to me. Does it make any sense to you?

The authors and publishers who are flourishing now are doing it all differently. They are selling their books and booklets and other formats of their content to non-bookstore markets -- to corporations, associations, the military, gift stores, websites, and just about anything BUT bookstores. And they sell them in very large quantities for use as a promotional item and/or to distribute to their employees or other constituents. They are making them available as downloads so people can have the content instantly anywhere in the world.

Next time you have even the most fleeting thought of a bookstore, ask yourself why. And then think about the thousands and thousands of other places and ways to bring your knowledge to those who want it.

Until next time,
Paulette - encouraging bigger thinking

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