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PRIMIR STUDY CLAIMS PRINT BOOK SALES

REACHED THEIR PEAK IN 2007 

In its study “Trends in Books 2008-2012, Primir, the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization, cited 2007 as the year in which print book sales reached their apex. A combination of the economic malaise and the growing strength of digital books were principal causes of the current slippage. 

The study predicts that by the time the economy stabilizes, the book industry will be much smaller and very different from its present composition. 

However, it does point out that book content in paper/printed form will continue to be a major factor during the forecast period that ends in 2012, although sales levels will fall somewhat. With book content spreading to multiple media channels, potential fall-off in sales at traditional bookstores will undoubtedly occur.  

However, the study states that it will “take years for e-books to penetrate all aspects of the traditional print book market. It points to the economy as the prime driver of change in the short term.  Not a thrilling  forecast, but one that seems more and more likely as the challenge of the

e-book grows more robust and the economy continues  its sluggish return to normalcy

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ANALYSIS OF THE E-BOOK MARKET

PRODUCED BY BOOK BUSINESS MAGAZINE  

After reading the Primir study, I thought this examination of the e-book market published recently in Book Business Magazine would be of great value to our readers.

The E-book Price Wars 
The average prices of the top 100 e-books on the Amazon Kindle best-seller list and the Sony best-seller list for the first half of 2009 were $8.26 and $10.38, respectively. For the second half of 2009 (up to mid-December), the average price for the top 100 Amazon Kindle titles dropped to $6.76, while Sony's average price dipped to $9.25.

How Much Do E-book Readers Read? 
Among e-book users, 63% have read between one and five e-books in the past year.

Who's Reading and on What?

• The largest group of e-book readers are in the 18–25-year-old age range, making up 25% of e-book readers. (The percentage/group size drops as one moves into the older age ranges.)
• Four out of five e-book users read their e-books on PCs or Macs (mostly PC). About one in four read e-books on a device other than a PC or Mac, including dedicated reading devices or smartphones.

Read vs. Buy:

About 90% of the U.S. adult population has never 
purchased an e-book.

About one in five (20%) adults has read (not necessarily purchased) at least one e-book in the past 12 months.

A Manly Format? 
The e-book format is the only reading format statistically known to draw more men than women: About 12% of men bought an e-book in the past 12 months compared to almost 9% of women. 

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RECLUSIVE SALINGER TOUCHED A CHORD AND

NEVER HAD TO PROMOTE HIS PERENNIAL BESTSELLER

One wonders what it says about the continuous need for promotion that we usually hear about. J.D. Salinger produced a masterpiece that now still sells approximately 250,000 copies every year despite the fact that he led so reclusive a life, avoiding personal contact with the rest of the book world and the millions of readers that made Holden Caulfield, the teenage hero of The  Catcher in the Rye, a legendary figure in American literature.

It certainly stands as an inspiration to all of us writers who dream of resonating with the reading public. 
 

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Charlie’s Choice

Weekly Tips to Help You Write,

Publish & Promote Your Work 

THE BOOK COVER:  A READER’S

FIRST IMPRESSION OF YOUR BOOK 

      The old saw, “You can’t tell a book by its cover” just isn’t applicable to our industry. Far too many potential buyers have been turned off by a second-rate cover that didn’t reflect the quality of the content on the inside pages. A book’s title and the graphics on its cover must combine to give the customer a true sense of what he/she will find inside.

      Covers have come a long way since their initial function. For many centuries, they served essentially as protectors for the prized words and pages they covered. These hand-bound volumes were wrapped in strong materials like wood and leather. Many times they would be decorated with gold, silver and precious stones.

      It wasn’t until the early 18^th Century that mechanical book binding techniques came into vogue. And as that technology moved from cloth to paper, graphic representations became essential for book covers. Today in the digital age, the book cover remains equally important in its latest incarnation when wrapped around an e-book.

With or Without Professional Help

      Technology has moved swiftly and effectively to meet the demands of publishers and authors. A complete industry has developed that inludes literally thousands of skilled cover designers available for a fee, as well as a number of programs that allow a budget-conscious author to design a cover using ready-made templates.

      Many of us in the publishing world are strong advocates of hiring professionals to complete this job because the cover is so vital a tool in the sales of your book. However, there are now hundreds of books self-published in which the author has chosen to use a self-help program like www.bookcoverpro.com. If you click on “self help book cover design templates” in your favorite search engine, you will find many others. I also list several at the end of this column.

      Selecting a pro to design your cover requires a good deal of care. Your choice will be a very personal one, and for that reason I hesitate to recommend specific designers. I suggest you start your search by heading to the Internet and search under “book cover designers.” Many names will pop up. Check out that designer’s gallery to view a variety of covers he/she designed, and narrow down your choices. (Two excellent lists of qualified designers appears at the end of this column.)

      As your next step, contact the designer and determine whether you feel you two would be compatible. Explain what your book is about, and ask whether he/she has designed covers for similar books. If they are not displayed in the gallery, ask the designer e-mail them to you. In addition, ask for a price on a four-color (I assume you want color) cover for the size you require.

      It is difficult to guide you on prices, for they vary greatly among designers. I would suggest that the very lowest price a designer will charge is $200. However, a more realistic range would be from $400 to $600. You will also find designers that charge $1,000 and up, but I feel you can receive a very competent design at the middle range.  A good source for budget design is a design school located near you.

The Total Cover

      Never overlook the fact that a cover has three very essential segments, each with a specific assignment: front, back and spine. The first portion of the cover to attract the reader is in most cases the spine, unless the shop has decided to display it with its front facing out. It should contain the name of the book, the author and the publisher.

      The front, of course, is designed to give the reader an overview of the book’s quality and content, as we discussed earlier. Whenever possible include either a short testimonial from an impressive person or if you have won any competition, reproduce the medal on the cover.  Experiments have proved that the reader looks at the front for approximately eight to ten seconds. If pleased or curious, he/she then turns to the back cover for more information.

      The back is essentially a selling page. It can include a brief bio of the author and even a photo. It will have a brief précis of the book and several endorsements from respected sources. Of course, the price will also be printed on the back. If the reader is pleased with what  he/she finds after spending  anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds studying the back, the next step will be to open the book, probably peruse the table of contents and skim through several pages or chapters before deciding whether to purchase or not.

Designing the Cover Yourself

      While this subject merits a lengthy discussion, probably a book, I am only going to touch on some of the highlights to be aware of.

      Once you have the dimensions from your printer, lay out the entire cover as a single rectangle, and then section it into the components, front, back and spine. Of course, as I pointed out earlier, don’t forget to include the requirements for bleed, usually about 1/8 of an inch. . (That means the additional print surface beyond the actual dimensions of the cover that the printer needs to allow for clean printing of the colors right to the edges of the cover. Your printer will then trim the cover to its exact size.)

      Your printer can tell you the size of the spine, which is based on the number of pages and the thickness of the paper stock you use.

      Think in terms of the places your book will be sold. A traditional bookstore will probably shelve it spine out. Make certain the colors and typography are highly attractive. However, if your primary outlets will be discount stores, chain pharmacies and possibly airport stores, think in terms of strengthening the front cover, and moving the title up higher because these outlets usually display the book facing out.

      It is wise to insist upon a proof of the cover on paper stock. For some reason the color hues and definition that come up on the computer screen are not always the same as on paper. They can be misleading. To achieve the color you want, use at least 300 dpi in all the images you use to achieve the high resolution that will make your cover stand out.

      As promised, here are several sources for design templates when you do the work yourself: www.templatescollective.com, www.morrispublishing.com/dsn/cover/custom.asp.

and www.bookcoverpro.com.

      While I hesitate, as said, to suggest specific professional cover designers, I can recommend you view www.brennerbooks.com/coverdesigners.html  and/or reach out for John Kremer.’s www.bookmarket.com/101des.htm. These lists contain quality designers.

      Next week, we’ll delve into the related issue of interior design. Just as the cover design has its functions, so the design of the interior of the book has a job to do, as we’ll learn. Until I see you then,

      Keep Writing! 

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GOOGLE’S CO-FOUNDERS PLAN TO

SURRENDER MAJORITY CONTROL 

There’s little need to weep for Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the Stanford U whiz kids who turned a dream into one of the world’s great success stories in little more than 11 years. The pair recently announced they plan to give up their majority stock positions in Google over the next five years.  

That doesn’t mean they won’t continue to influence every aspect of the company. With 48% of the voting rights shared between them, they certainly will continue as company powerhouses. 

The plan is to sell what will amount to some $2.75 billion worth of shares, stretched over the five-year period so that there would be no sudden impact on the company and the two men can never be accused of insider trading. 

The two men, both just 36-years-old, deserve great credit for the organization they have built. 

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DEADLINE SET FOR THE ANNUAL

WRITER’S DIGEST COMPETITION 

Writer’s Digest Magazine has announced May 14 as the deadline for submission to its annual writing competition, now in its 79^th consecutive year. The grand prize winner will be given a three-day visit to New York City for meetings with editors and agents. More than $30,000 in cash and prizes will be given out to winners in a variety of categories. 

The ten categories for submissions include:

• Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious)
• Memoirs/Personal Essay
• Magazine Feature Article
• Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.)
• Mainstream/Literary Short Story
• Rhyming Poetry
• Non-rhyming Poetry
• Stage Play
• Television/Movie Script
• Children's/Young Adult Fiction

For more info and entry forms, click on www.writersdigest.com/annual.  

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BABY BOOMERS ARE DEVOTED MEMBERS

OF SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS

In its recent report “Boomers and Social Media,” eMarketer states that 47% of online boomers maintain a profile on at least one social network. The report’s author Lisa E. Phillips writes, ”Creating and renewing personal connections online is the biggest draw for these boomers.”

A study by Deloitte several months earlier found that 46% of boomers actively maintain their profiles on the networks. Several analysts report that Facebook is the network of choice for 73% of boomers. Twitter and LinkedIn attract a mere 13% of them. 

With the markets for boomers and seniors expanding exponentially, this is great news for authors who target the older generations with their work. No longer can publishers and authors write off the hundreds of thousands of vibrant oldsters who now make up one of the fastest growing markets in America. I can personally attest to the importance of this market since my last book The Writer Within You initially targeted retirees and boomers who were nearing retirement, and met with a good deal of success.

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BOOK PIRACY ON INTERNET

REACHES EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS 

A recent study by ATTRIBUTOR, an independent online monitoring service, documented nine million illegal downloads of books during the closing months of 2009. These involved 913 well known titles with copyright protections. Each was downloaded approximately 10,000 times. 

Tom Allen, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), responded to the study results by stating, “Those nine million pirated books should be a call-to-arms for policymakers, educators and every reader who cares about the future of digital and printed books.  Unchecked, that piracy will drain the creative energy of American publishing.” 

With digital books continuing to grow as a substantial segment of the publishing scene, piracy of this proportion will become a major deterrent for authors who want to distribute their books through burgeoning methodologies like Kindle and its many new competitors.  

While online distribution has become a marvelous new tool for publishers and authors, if loss of income to piracy continues to grow, the e-book industry could come to a grinding halt.  
 

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GOOGLE POSTS RECORD PROFITS

ONCE AGAIN THIS YEAR 

Google’s investor relations report once again announced a banner year following the incredible growth in the past two years. Although growth was somewhat slower, not a surprise in this economic climate, the company produced a 9% gain in revenues, reaching $23.7 billion. 

Net profits as a percentage of revenue improved appreciably, reaching 28% or $6.5 billion. Not a bad take-home in this economy, and the reason that you see the company so active in acquisitions in recent months. 

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