Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley, California Office
First Published: August 11,2009
Did I give you new things to worry about yesterday? I hope not. But if forewarned is forearmed, I want to be the one to give you a heads-up where it may be helpful. Last week Janet blogged about the trouble with the new “free” business experiment. I’ve begun to notice another possible effect from what I call “free” fallout.
I’m finding it harder and harder to sell nonfiction. A normal person might chalk that up to a tough economy, publishers trimming their lists and more competition for available reading time. But as I began to consider the whys, I remembered what someone once said to me about another writing friend. “His motto is, let no word go unpublished.”
Those were the days.
Nowadays, we still publish every thought but we do it via the web and the many social sites instead of creating a product that can be sold. Words and ideas are everywhere. For free. Just ten years ago, if your child received a diagnosis of, say, juvenile diabetes, you’d leave the doctors office and head for the bookstore. You’d probably buy a book on the disease, one that dealt with helping your child live a normal life with a chronic disease, a cookbook and, perhaps, a picture book about the disease that you could read to your child. Four books.
Now you only need log onto the juvenile diabetes association website and voila! It’s all there with the latest findings, best recipes and perhaps even a coloring book for your child. Up-to-date. Succinct. Convenient. Free. But what happened to those four authors who would have written the books you would have previously purchased?
I’m not saying blogs, websites and the like can’t be used for promotional purposes and to introduce people to you and your message, but with the plethora of online resources, including the new free online novels, a reader could go a lifetime without having to purchase a book, magazine or newspaper and still be well-informed, well-read, and entertained.
So back to the sluggishness of nonfiction acquisitions. Too many publishers are no longer willing to take a risk unless the book is an obvious standout. So how do we get around this aversion to risk? You know the stock answer– write a book to which they simply can’t say no. Okay, that doesn’t help a whole bunch. Let me try to break it down some. Here is a partial list of the books that stand a better chance of making it through the gauntlet of naysayers:
- The author with “platform.” Also called the go-to person. The book on a popular subject written by the very person who is the poster child for that issue/idea. The author only speaks to this one issue, and if a talk show booking agent were booking a show on this subject, the author is the first person who would come to mind.
- The person who has paid his dues and invested time and energy in his audience. A book written by the person who knows and is known by the particular niche at which the book is aimed. Often successful regional authors fit this category.
- The trusted author. A book written by a person we’ve come to trust or appreciate. For example, when Philip Yancey writes a book, we trust it will be rich. Or take Malcolm Gladwell. We want to see how he’s looking at the world these days.
- The unique book. A unique book that either tackles an old subject in an altogether fresh and engaging way or opens up a whole new subject or idea. Caveat: Most authors would put their nonfiction book in this category, but editors and agents look at hundreds of potential books each month, making it easy to spot the ones that make you pause.
Of course, those categories don’t address books like memoir (all about voice), biographies and popular history (all about scholarship mixed with style), and the myriad other nonfiction books from cookbooks to true crime. But when we talk about mainstream nonfiction, there’s a growing resistance born of caution. Each potential book is not only evaluated on its own merits but publishers also are asking, “Is there a need for this book? Can the reader find similar information for free on the web? Is this author able to make the book stand out?”
It’s a lot to think about. But don’t forget, there are miracles and anomalies that happen every day. (Enough of them to keep those of us who share our opinions ever so humble.)
How do you buy nonfiction books? What kinds of books and authors do you look for?
I read very little non-fiction. If I do buy it, it tends to be a cookbook or memoir. I like memoir because I’m hoping the writer ISN’T an expert on anything. I can relate to that and I want it to be relatable. I’m reading Ayelett Waldman’s BAD MOTHER now, which I enjoy, but I couldn’t get past three pages of EAT,PRAY, LOVE, so not all memoir speaks to me.
The few true N/F books I own are life coach books like Cheryl Richardson, who I like very much or Christian titles by Lisa Whelchel or Julie Barnhill.. If I buy N/F, it’s likely to be for self-improvement rather than a “how-to” to learn something new.
One of the reasons I think JULIE & JUlIA did so well is because Powell wasn’t an expert. For me, it’s more of a turn-off for someone to be calling themselves an expert.
Guess I’m Jo Average Reader.
I look to authors that can speak from personal experience instead of just from their career or their education. For example, Marybeth & Curtis Whalen’s book about money & marriage was far more helpful to me than [big name]’s financial series because they demonstrated that they’d been-there-done-that.
I’ve been finding there’s a fine line in non-fiction between information and sales pitch. Sometimes the people with platform only seem to want to sell you the book to move you on to the “real” sale – a website membership, or product, etc. I always appreciate additional resources but from my last 3 months of reading, I can think of two health books, one diet book, one financial resource book and one devotional book that were nothing more than a 200-300 page sales pitch. Why should I pay to read an ad?
I’ve never been much of a non-fiction reader. On the average, I read only about one, or less, non-fiction books per year. I do believe more people run to the internet to get information more so than getting a book on the subject.
I buy “how to write” books and theology books for myself and missionary and biography books for my kids.
Yes,there is a lot free on the web and who has the time to read it all? But I have my favorites in the theology dept. and in the “how to write books” dept.
I can go to several blogs and get some thoughtful theological stuff. I can also go to several blogs, like this one, that deal with writing. But there comes a time when you want a book that deals with one issue from start to finish in a cohesive unit. Blogs aren’t really that way. You go to one and then you click on the link that takes you over to another (It takes a couple of hour to read Nathan Bransford’s Friday posts, for example) and all that hectic scurrying around isn’t what I want a lot of the time.
My kids (16 and 15) never surf the net or read blogs. They do the social media stuff, but when I buy them school books, as I just did, they want real books. All this info on the web is overload and too much for them to sort through.
Besides, with books you don’t have to spend time commenting and interacting with the author and other readers. 🙂 Sometimes I want to interact, but I do love my books, too. I don’t think books about subjects people are passionate about will ever go out of style.
But I may be just weird.
Once again, Wendy, your blog was thought provoking. We do want everything for free in our current culture. As a non-fiction buff, I still see a market out there, but as you say, it is more specialized than in the old days.
My particular non-fiction passion is history and the bible.
I’m not much of a non-fiction person to begin with, but when something like Persecution by Elwood McQuaid is found in a book pile, I am intrigued. As far as free information on diseases, sometimes it’s nice to have a reference manual when you don’t feel like going on the computer. I can’t tell you how many times I have not felt like looking something up on the computer and wished I had the book in my home library.
What an interesting way to round out the week. I agree with all you said. As someone who works in online book promotion, I almost cringe when I get an author who has written nonfiction. Many bloggers are interested only in reviewing fiction. A nonfiction book truly needs to speak to some specfic need or come across as being fun or catchy.
Let’s talk about memoirs for a minute. They are some of the toughest books to find bloggers for. Why? Because unless it’s Ashley Judd or some other celebrity whose life people have a great interest in, they can be hard to sell. If bloggers aren’t scooping them up, why would the average reader?
For a while I was working on a memoir of my school years–middle school through high school–how tough it was fitting in, what I did that compromised my values to try and fit in, and how in the end I was always disappointed that it didn’t work out. I finally decided I would be better off writing a novel that had a character or characters who experienced some of these issues, because it’s not as appealing to young readers to hear from someone who is now 25 years removed from those experiences.
I’m not saying a memoir about an everyday person isn’t interesting, just that my experience has been that they are harder to promote unless they have a special element that many readers relate to.
One other thing I thought about this topic is how reading habits change. I read nonfiction exclusively for 2 years. Mainly Civil War books–and what else unique can be said on that topic–but I truly wasn’t interested in fiction at that point in my life. That changed a few years back and now I read a healthy blend of both.
Thanks for all the great posts this week. I’ve enjoyed the lively discussions.
Stepping into a B&N or a Christian bookstore, it’s hard to imagine declining nonfiction sales. I appreciate your insider’s perspective in clarifying the potential market.
I seem to go through “seasons” in reading. For a time, I consumed nonfiction, mostly Christian authors, but a lot of gardening, seed saving, herbal remedies, and my favorite on the ranch, an herbal handbook for healing animals with without medicine (the vet was over an hour and a half away). Now, I am happily devouring fiction,
with an occasional foray into memoirs, books on writing tips & hints, and adding to my cookbook collection.
I do use the internet for information, but if I need a reference, I like it all in one tidy form…as Sally indicated.
I depend on my delightful eighty-two year old mother to recommend good reads. She does not surf the net. My jaw dropped the other day, when she ask me if I knew about the “Pioneer Woman.” She’d read an article in their local newspaper and promptly went out and purchased the book.
I definitely listen to more nonfiction than fiction. But not counting technical stuff that I need to keep on top on, I probably read more fiction than fiction. When I listen to nonfiction, I like Wayne Dyer, Richard Rohr, and Paula D’Arcy. When I read nonfiction, I like Paula D’Arcy. I also like biographies, like “Home” by Julie Andrews.
I read more fiction than nonfiction.
(I need to stop doing twenty things at once.)
I’ve heard this for a few years, Wendy, that the free material on the web has hurt non-fiction sales. I didn’t even think about it now being harder to sell. But it makes sense.
What’s been interesting to me are the books I’ve stumbled across that came straight from the author’s blog. The author became an expert on a topic, gave all their info away for free on a blog, got a following, and then took those articles on the blog, formed it into a book, and sold it. And sometimes they’ve done really well.
I’ve thought about why that would work. If people could just get it free on the blog, why would they pay for it?
But reading that much material on a blog can be a hassle, and if the book is something I’m interested in, something that is worth spending money on because of how I’ll benefit from it, then I’ll buy that book. So in that case, the free material led to a contract.
This is hysterical. I’m reading the comments and I get to one that says the person buys writing books, theology books, missionary books, and biographies, and I’m thinking, “Wow, who is this? She buys exactly the same books I buy. See, I’m not weird. It makes perfect sense to buy these particular nonfiction books.”
So I scroll down to see who the genius is who shares my taste in books so perfectly…
heh heh
Along with the Bible, most of the books on my shelves are from Christian nonfiction authors who have been there, felt that, and still made it through.
I could not imagine life without them.
Thank You for all the info you shared this week. It gives me much to think about because I am a Chrstian nonfiction writer.
Thank God for his miracles and anomalies!
I always check out the authors platform before I invest in a book. Or sometimes I will go by an author’s reputation or a trusted person’s recomendation when I buy a non-fiction book.
I read about one non-fiction book a month, one MG or YA book a day, and one fiction book for grown-ups (can you tell I’m young at heart?) a month but most are from the library. I only buy books for gifts, because they were written by someone I know, or because I expect to read or refer to them more than once. With non-fiction books practical and interesting content is much more important to me than the reputation or platform of the author.
I tend to buy non-fiction the same way I buy fiction. I look for authors I love and their new releases. Because I loved Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck, I’m looking forward to I Remember Nothing. I enjoy her wit and her work resonates with because of her wry look at life as a “woman of a certain age.” Anything by David McCullough is going to be on my non-fiction reading list, because he’s my hero when it comes to transformational writing about history. So for me … it’s mostly about the author. I avoid authors for the same reason. If they’ve annoyed me in the past … well.
I read quite a lot of nonfiction. I feel like I have a decent mix of books by well-known authors or experts and some by “more ordinary” folks with smaller platforms, but either great writing style or background life experience. I do base a lot of my purchasing off of recommendations from friends or written reviews. But, I’ve also bought several books solely based on my experience reading the author’s blog. In those cases, writing style, content, and author-reader interaction attract me to the book.
Of course I’d like to hear that a “nobody” like me could write a nonfiction book. Until then, I’ll stubbornly keep writing, keep blogging, keep studying, keep learning from life, and keep imperfectly leaning on Him to direct it all.
Thank you for these insightful reposts this week, Wendy! (It’s also been interesting to see who was here commenting on the blog two years ago!)
Hah, as I reread my post later, I should restate my first sentence. My “quite a lot” is different than the next person, of course. My first sentence should really say: Quite a lot of what I read is nonfiction.
Thanks for bearing with my comment edits. 🙂
I’m one of those writers who wrote my book on my blog and then self-published it (it came out at the end of April). I have wanted to reach as many people as possible, so I’ve put my material in book form (paperback, hardback, and e-book) while I’ve left my posts up. Personally, I think the book form is more effective because of the flow of the material, but to each his or her own. My book is nonfiction and is about God’s absolute love–I introduce a new way of thinking the Bible through using critical reading and thinking skills. All I know is that God has opened doors for me and I’m trusting Him to give me knowledge, understanding, and wisdom on how to proceed from here.
Does this mean we should pray to be an anomaly?