The Joys of Writing and Publishing, by Kevin Wayne Johnson

Writing is a craft.  It must be developed, refined, Scriptural, Christ-centered, and easy to read, and understand, for your customers (readers).  In parallel, you will be required, if successful, to learn how the publishing industry operates.  What works and what doesn't.  Navigating through this large maze can be complicated, confusing and frustrating unless you choose to study your craft as well as the how your craft fits into the larger picture.  I intend to dispel many of the mysteries to make life easier for you and for your work to be accepted into the mainstream industry. 

As this article, and others, unfolds, I will share a quote from a leader publishing inside for you to consider, current publishing industry news that will educate you about the industry, and upcoming industry events. 

"Last year, 400,000 books were published in the U.S. alone.  When you consider that at the same time the number of distributors willing to take on a smaller publisher is shrinking, you can understand why the No. 1 concern of the majority of our members is distribution - getting it, keeping it and figuring out how to make it work cost effectively."

- Florrie Binford Kichler - Book Business magazine, September 2009

Distribution is a key component within the publishing industry. A distributor acts as your sales force and fulfillment center and handles credit and collections. Master distributors warehouse their client publishers' books, actively sell the titles to wholesalers and retailers, and are exclusive to the trade. They try to stock into the marketplace ahead of demand at the retail level.  If you are ready to take a book national and want to sell to wholesalers such as Ingram and Baker & Taylor and to such chains such as Borders and Barnes & Noble, you will probably need to partner with a distributor to have access to those accounts. Overall, you can expect to pay a distributor 18 to 30 percent of net sales.

Source: IBPA Independent, December 2008

2008 revenue reported by 30 Audio Publishers Association member companies, a 6.7% decrease from the previous year.

Approx. number of titles Barnes & Noble (B&N) is offering at the launch of its new B&N eBookstore.  The retailer expects that number to increase to more than 1 million titles within the next year.  B&N also announced that is will be the exclusive eBookstore provider on the forthcoming Plastic Logic eReader device.

The final number of verified attendees, not including exhibitor personnel, at the 2009 BookExpo America, held in May in NYC.  This number represents a 30% increase over the trade show's 2008 attendance in Los Angeles, yet an 11% decrease from the 2007 show in NYC. 

Percentage year-over-year increase of total minutes spent on social networking sites in the U.S.  Total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700% year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site.  MySpace's year-over-year growth declined 31% in the same time period.

Approximate number of e-book titles Simon & Schuster (S&S) has made available on Scribd.com for purchase and download, as a result of an agreement between the global trade publisher and the social publishing company.  In addition, S&S also will make thousands of printed titles available for preview on Scribd.com, with links to purchase from the S&S Web site and other retailers.

Sources: Book Business magazine, August and September 2009 editions

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