The speed with which things change in the publishing world can make it nearly impossible to keep track of what is happening and with good reasons. Technology keeps moving along and market trends that we all rely on to sell our books seem to change with the blink of an eye. Sometimes I believe the tech people behind social media move the target for those who rely on the format to reach out to their readers just because they can, making it more difficult to keep one's head above water as a writer.
I try to read 20-30 minutes a day about the industry in a vain effort to keep abreast of what is going on. This post, the first sadly in a while, is a list of a few of recent posts and articles I found to be of interest or help.
Temporary shift in the publishing world or positive trend in the bookstore industry? Time will tell. More bookstores can't be a bad thing in a world that needs more contact with books.
I'm not a fan of Led Zeppelin, I personally believe The Rolling Stones have it right when they're announced before their shows as The World's Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band, but anything that involves copyright law and creative endeavors is important. How many fiction authors have been influenced in their storytelling by the dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, of novel and stories they have read in the past.
In case you haven't heard, Led Zeppelin is being sued over copyright infringement in regard to their classic song Stairway to Heaven. The ruling may possibly have far reaching impact on the creative world. Worth the time to read.
This article got my attention. My overall non-fiction sales have been in decline in the past year, particularly my ebook sales. Yet my POD paper sales have held steady during the same time period. I write for a niche non-fiction marker and have saturated it pretty well. My logical conclusion was I had sold as many books as an author could expect given the limited size of the pool of readers.
Could so-called digital fatigue be behind my drop in sales and not market saturation? My paper sales seem to provide some anecdotal evidence this might be true. Who knows?
Still, it is worth paying attention to anything that dramatically impacts self-publishing authors ability to sell their work. Since ebooks are such a big part of the market for so many indie authors, any trend that impacts ebook sales is worth paying attention to.
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