The traditional marketplace for book sales is shrinking. The six largest publishers are shipping more books and selling less than ever before, even though the distribution chain is saturated with copies that will eventually be returned. The basic laws of supply and demand are being ignored and no one is trying to do anything about it. What’s wrong with this picture?
Reports show that book sales are falling and have been for almost 15 years. In response, the six largest publishers in the country are romancing retail bookstores to take as much inventory as possible, often more than they can handle.
Experts say more than 800 new titles are published independently and traditionally every single day in the US. That’s over 290,000 new titles per year and the growth rate for the next ten years is predicted to be near 10-15 percent. With a growing number of new titles being published and forced into a shrinking marketplace, the difficulty of marketing and selling books is obvious.
This growth of new authors and books is the direct result of new digital technology, and the ability to print books inexpensively and on demand. This has spawned a new book...