Seven Questions You Must Answer Before Publishing Your Book
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The Future of Books
We all know about books. Amazon, the world’s largest store, was built on selling them. We have books in our homes, and most of us own furniture specifically designed as “bookshelves.” Books are ubiquitous—they’re everywhere in our lives, our culture, and our consciousness. We worry that our kids won’t read enough books and that we don’t read enough ourselves. With the rapid pace at which communication technology, social media, and the internet are taking over our lives, some wonder if books will survive. Will they go extinct? Will they be preserved as cultural relics of the past, like vinyl records and VHS tapes?
Many of us—like you, like most people who read my writing—plan on writing a book one day, or perhaps have already written one, two, or even a dozen. But what do you think the future of your book(s) will look like?
Before we start to wonder whether books—our books—will soon become obsolete, let’s take a step back and try to understand what a book really is.
In its most common form, a book is made of paper and ink, text and cover. It is a physical product: written, edited, designed, printed, bound, shipped, warehoused, distributed, sold, and finally read by its “consumer.”
Sure, there are eBooks. They don’t require paper, ink, printing, shipping, or warehousing. Although eBooks are fairly mainstream today, having been around for roughly 20 years, old-fashioned print books still outsell eBooks by a ratio of four to one. The emergence of eBooks, despite earlier speculation, did not render the printed book obsolete.
When we think of books today, we generally think of traditional printed books.
What we think of as a “book” is really just a container—a medium for carrying, disseminating, and transmitting a message. In fact, the physical product we know as a book doesn’t inherently carry more value than the paper it’s printed on. It’s the message within that container that represents the true value of a book. And depending on the message, it’s often a bargain!
So, what are readers really buying when they purchase a book? Through thousands of years of commerce, we’ve been conditioned to expect something tangible in exchange for our money—a physical object we can touch, hold, and flip through. That tangible object, the book itself, comforts us by giving us something “real” for our hard-earned cash.
But in truth, we’re not buying the ink and paper. We’re not buying the container. What we’re really buying is the message inside the book. More specifically, we’re buying the promise the message makes to us.
But in truth, we’re not buying the ink and paper. We’re not buying the container. What we’re really buying is the message inside the book. More specifically, we’re buying the promise the message makes to us.
We’re buying the solution to a problem, the answer to a question, the fulfillment of a need, or the satisfaction we hope reading the book will provide.
As authors and publishers, if we can shift our perspective away from “selling books” and toward providing solutions, answers, and fulfillment through the ideas contained in these books, we can begin to understand the business we’re truly in.
And once we understand that we’re in the business of sharing a message that makes a promise to our readers—and keeps it—we’ll no longer be dependent on the container. When a new technology eventually comes along to replace the paper-and-ink format we call a book, our message will transcend the medium. Messages—the good ones—always transcend their containers.
When that day comes, we’ll be ready to embrace whatever new technology emerges as the next container for our messages.
Until then, by focusing on the value of our messages rather than the medium, we’ll sell a lot more books.
Learn more about publishing your book before you publish your book.
Seven Questions You Must Answer Before Publishing Your Book
How to Define Success, Choose a Publisher, and Reach Your Audience
(P.S. This book includes the answers.)
(P.S.S. It’s free)
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The Seven Questions
- Question #1: What is the finish date goal for my manuscript?
- Question #2: What is my goal for this book?
- Question #3: Have I chosen a publisher?
- Question #4: What should I expect from my publisher?
- Question #5: What am I doing to build my audience?
- Question #6: What is my marketing plan?
- Question #7: What is my publishing budget?
Successfully publishing your book is too important to leave to chance. And answering these seven questions before you publish could mean the difference between disappointment and success.