Rock My World–and Yours, Part 3

Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant

Location: Sonoma, Calif., planning retreat

Years ago I recall reading a publishing doyenne’s comments about publishing trends. At the time, readers were buying inexpensive mass market books by the wheel barrel. Well, it seemed as if they were selling that fast.

Up steps the doyenne, who pointed out that, for every trend, there’s a counter-trend. Her point?

If the trend is toward mass market, that means there’s a counter trend toward beautiful, expensive books.

I’ve kept that lesson in mind over the years, and it’s served me well as I’ve looked at manuscripts and authors. It’s kept me from saying, “Nah, no one is reading that stuff.”

If you’ve read the studies, you know that most e-books are bought by women, and most of those books are fiction.

What would the counter trend be?

Books that appeal to men, nonfiction books.

One publisher that has done well with both print and e-books  is Rand Publishing. Their books are the essence of simplicity in an era where everyone is trying to look complex and new-fangled. The books are short. The content can be read in spurts. And stick figures illustrate the content.

In the one year the publishing venture has existed, it has released 10 books (one per month), has up to 100,000 books in print, and sales have increased 100% in the last four months. The books have done well as both paperbacks and as e-books.

What does this  mean for the writer?

I’ve always advocated that writers should pay attention to the marketplace, but not to be driven by it. Listen to what the market likes with one ear, but incline the other ear to what your heart is saying. Never abandon your passion to follow the fickle market, but do find a way to express your passion in a way that the market is likely to respond to.

Rand Publishing founder, Jim Randel, launched his self-help books with an eye to keeping the books streamlined, easy to read on-the-go, and as fast reads. The format works well both in print, with the distinctive stick-figure illustrations, and on an e-reader.

Another writer who showed an awareness of what readers wanted is Dan Brown with The DaVinci Code. For those of you who have read this book, let me say, it has some serious flaws. Really serious flaws. So what did the author tap into that made it work so astoundingly well?

Among other things it:

Had short paragraphs. It literally was a page turner.

Had short chapters. You could read for half an hour and finish off 10 chapters.

The pace was breathtaking. The characters seldom slept or ate. It was all nonstop action–until Brown would stop to pontificate, which was a total snoozer. But, ultimately, the book delivered instant gratification for the reader who covered so much territory in so little time.

Now, the question for you is, what are the trends in the arena you’re writing in? What would the counter trend be?  How could you adapt what you’re creating to give a nod to the market but be true to your passion?

Rock our world!