The crisis in non-fiction publishing

The mainstream may be getting dumber by the day, but we are living in what looks like a golden age of publishing for, of all people, the university presses.

.. we have scads of books telling us about the importance of mindfulness, or forgetfulness, or distraction, or stress. We have any number about what one recent press release called the “always topical” debate between science and religion. We have a whole subcategory that concern themselves with “what it means to be human”.

These are not books that always make our understanding of the world deeper and more complex. They are books that argue that one equation will make sense of economics for us, or tell us why human societies prosper or fail; that “the modern world” came about because of six ideas, or one historically traded commodity, or one decisive battle; they tell us that the key to life on Earth is X, Y or Z. The disproportion between the size of the question proposed, and the simplicity of the pretended answer, is the primary marketing hook.

.. The university presses are turning towards the public because with the big presses not taking these risks, the stuff’s there for the taking.

.. He describes an arms race between inventory management technology and reprint technology in which the former is winning: Amazon and Waterstones will simply order a small run of books and order more only when they run out.

How To Write and Sell a Successful “How To” Book

If you can’t clearly define the specific reader at whom the book is to be directed, you are not ready to proceed. If the reader you intend for the book cannot be easily and inexpensively informed of the availability of the book, then the book may be impossible to sell.

.. On the second sheet of paper or page, detail the specific benefits that your book will deliver to the reader. What will the reader be able to do when he or she has completed the book? Just providing general knowledge is not a compelling benefit.

.. When you have identified the cohesive audience that can be economically and effectively reached, and when you have composed a sales letter that clearly identifies the compelling benefits your book will provide, then and only then, should you go to work to write the book.