10 Shocking Truths about Book Publishing

[Jo Zebedee]

And it'll only get worse if the pattern of kids' behaviour (that I see as a teacher) carries on as it now operates; social media and the internet have replaced more 'worthwhile' pursuits such as reading fiction (and fishing).

pH

Maybe it will just change the model. That may be part of the issue. It's just that we're, whisper it, getting older. Perhaps we're the ones who need to question if we can learn from them youngsters

The Martian and 50 Shades became best sellers by releasing small chunks on line and word of mouth spread. It may be novels released in chunks and building a readership first.

I might even play with that with some new stuff I'm having fun with - which is a new Abendau which should standalone concerning the next generation. I might start releasing small excerpts via the blog and website. Fun.

I'll report back

 

[Phyrebrat]

I hope it gets better. I doubt it will. I make a point of asking my kids (200+ a week all across London) what they're reading. One girl in Brixton likes to read actual books.

None of the rest have so far read anything not prescribed by school, not even e-books.

They all want to be famous. And the sad thing is they don't even care what for. They're piling their attempts on gaining likes and shares, not reading fiction.

I speak pretty confidently about this because I make a point of asking everytime I take the register (along with finding out who is on report!).

Getting older had nothing to do with it outside of access to other 'modern' forms of entertainment as far as I can see. Kids want to be fed, not forage.

pH

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Keep asking. At least it gives them a faint, nagging feeling that they *ought* to be reading something.

What, they haven't read Lake Manor? It's on sale, you know. And it would show them that they know someone famous.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Hmmm. I have a 16 year old niece who has always been a book worm. Both my kids read - my 12 yr old currently has 3 books on the go, being devoured (The Outsiders by SE Hinton, Magical Masquerade by Claire Savage and Inish Carraig - it's a very distant number 3 on her list ).

Perhaps all is not lost....

Ps - my whole point was maybe we should just feed them

 

[Phyrebrat]

Hmmm. I have a 16 year old niece who has always been a book worm. Both my kids read - my 12 yr old currently has 3 books on the go, being devoured (The Outsiders by SE Hinton, Magical Masquerade by Claire Savage and Inish Carraig - it's a very distant number 3 on her list ).

Perhaps all is not lost....

Ps - my whole point was maybe we should just feed them

Yeah, but look who their mammy is

pH

 

[Ursa major]

They're piling their attempts on gaining likes and shares, not reading fiction.

We obviously need a mechanism by which likes -- lots of them (one per chapter, scene... per page, per paragraph?) -- can be assigned to those reading fiction.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Jo, I think Fifty Shades sold very well partly because it got good sales, was 'risque' and then got a ****load of free media coverage. I know that quite a lot of women (intriguing mostly women bought it, not least because BDSM is usually the other way round, with the woman on top, but there we are) bought it, read 10-30 pages, then just stopped.

But a sale's a sale.

Or look at the Galbraith/Rowling incident. I suspect the quickest and easiest, and most dubious, way to become quickly successful would be to change your name to JRR Tolkien or JK Rowling. It seems very hard to break through to the upper echelon, but once you do, sales come piling in.

 

[crystal haven]

If I remember correctly, not many of the teenagers read books when I was at school. It was mostly comics, and listening to music, rather than books. Young people can come to books later in life.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Jo, I think Fifty Shades sold very well partly because it got good sales, was 'risque' and then got a ****load of free media coverage. I know that quite a lot of women (intriguing mostly women bought it, not least because BDSM is usually the other way round, with the woman on top, but there we are) bought it, read 10-30 pages, then just stopped.

Not quite true. She was writing it as fan fiction on the Twilight sites, got a following who, when she published, were already bought in and spread the word rapidly. Which is exactly what Weir did on Wattpad with The Martian

 

[Vertigo]

And it'll only get worse if the pattern of kids' behaviour (that I see as a teacher) carries on as it now operates; social media and the internet have replaced more 'worthwhile' pursuits such as reading fiction (and fishing).

pH

There was a report on the radio a day or two ago that stated that, in the UK at least, kids now spend more time on the internet than watching TV. I almost think that is actually an improvement as with social media at least they are interacting in some way rather than just sitting watching the box like a vegetable

 

[Phyrebrat]

There was a report on the radio a day or two ago that stated that, in the UK at least, kids now spend more time on the internet than watching TV. I almost think that is actually an improvement as with social media at least they are interacting in some way rather than just sitting watching the box like a vegetable

I'd have to disagree with that as an improvement. The ones I see are using Snapchat, instagram, twitter, Facebook and all the others as a form of getting validation or to feed a narcissism that has been employed to fill a gap caused by bad or absent parenting, a failed State Education system and a general apathy.

For me the lesson we need to learn is responsibility with technological advance. Making life easier, connectivity and globalism has its drawbacks.

It reminds me of all those accounts of national lottery winners who end up worse off and bankrupt because they've not known how to use the money responsibly.

pH

 

[AlexH]

I hope it gets better. I doubt it will. I make a point of asking my kids (200+ a week all across London) what they're reading. One girl in Brixton likes to read actual books.

None of the rest have so far read anything not prescribed by school, not even e-books.

They all want to be famous. And the sad thing is they don't even care what for. They're piling their attempts on gaining likes and shares, not reading fiction.

I speak pretty confidently about this because I make a point of asking everytime I take the register (along with finding out who is on report!).

Getting older had nothing to do with it outside of access to other 'modern' forms of entertainment as far as I can see. Kids want to be fed, not forage.

pH

I probably read less than 10 books from high school to my mid to late 20s - it's only the last few years I've started to read most days (I feel I've been missing out). Similarly with school friends - quite a few of my friends didn't start reading books regularly until their 20s. One who had never shown an interest as far as I was aware, suddenly started reading in his 30s. The three books I enjoyed most at high school were recommended by a friend, not any that were decided with the curriculum in mind, so that didn't help. Although we still had to read these three books, it just so happened we had a choice (it was Terry Pratchett my friend recommended). So if young adult is one of the biggest genres, who is reading them?

Maybe I shouldn't, but I find the fame thing really sad. I heard an interview with a parent of a child who died in one of the recent UK tragedies, and when the parent was asked what their child wanted to be when they grew up, the parent proudly said "to be famous" (I don't mean to criticise the parent, as it's great for parents to be proud of their children, whatever they want to do, and I know I didn't know what I wanted to do at 16, or even for many years after).

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Maybe I shouldn't, but I find the fame thing really sad. I heard an interview with a parent of a child who died in one of the recent UK tragedies, and when the parent was asked what their child wanted to be when they grew up, the parent proudly said "to be famous" (I don't mean to criticise the parent, as it's great for parents to be proud of their children, whatever they want to do).

She was 8 - loads of kids want to be famous when they were eight. I'm sure I did at one point. And the irony for the family - and the reason they mentioned it, iirc - is that she is now well known - the comment broke my heart.

The father was proud of her singing and dancing and her life - that's what shone through.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I think it's incommensurable using ourselves as a comparison. We only had Lego

 

[Stuart Suffel]

I hope it gets better. I doubt it will. I make a point of asking my kids (200+ a week all across London) what they're reading. One girl in Brixton likes to read actual books.

None of the rest have so far read anything not prescribed by school, not even e-books.

They all want to be famous. And the sad thing is they don't even care what for. They're piling their attempts on gaining likes and shares, not reading fiction.

I speak pretty confidently about this because I make a point of asking everytime I take the register (along with finding out who is on report!).

Getting older had nothing to do with it outside of access to other 'modern' forms of entertainment as far as I can see. Kids want to be fed, not forage.

pH

We're probably moving into a different topic, but I do agree that child development and technology is worth looking at. I'm pretty sure, (but dont know) that scientist are doing so.

My own nieces were pretty tech obsessed (ie fb etc), but now, in their early 20's, they've entered the real/adult world very successfully, and fb etc has been reduced to a functional entity, rather than a validation/ developmental mechanism.

Nonetheless, tech has changed human interaction, and does bare examination.

 

[Nick B]

Hmmm. I have a 16 year old niece who has always been a book worm. Both my kids read - my 12 yr old currently has 3 books on the go, being devoured (The Outsiders by SE Hinton, Magical Masquerade by Claire Savage and Inish Carraig - it's a very distant number 3 on her list ).

Perhaps all is not lost....

Ps - my whole point was maybe we should just feed them

Both my eldest kids (12 and 9) read lots. My daughter(12) reads loads, she's on The Hobbit at the moment and loving it. It seems reading is a culture thing. At her school the push reading as top priority (and I agree, can't do any other subjects too well if you can't read) and it works. They earn credits for each book they read, and use the credits in some way when the earn enough.

 

[Nick B]

I think it's incommensurable using ourselves as a comparison. We only had Lego

That's not true! We also had sticks, and they could be anything. Well, mostly they were guns and lightsabres, but you get the point.

 

[Justin Swanton]

If you're interested in getting above the scrum, learn Flash and put out slick YouTube videos on interesting topics. That works a charm. Here's an effort of mine. (OK, it didn't get that many views)

A Flash video book....a concept worth exploring.

 

[Cathbad]

It seems reading is a culture thing.

Unfortunately, I believe it is cultural.

For the past few decades, our (overall) culture has been doing everything exactly right to discourage reading. Social Media, improvements in games and game consoles, schools focusing far more on tech rather than basics - like reading.

Our libraries are now being closed, from lack of use, government funding, and private donations. States are starting to require things like "volunteering" in order for a student to graduate high school, while at the same time lessoning requirements for things like English and Science.

There is virtually no incentive for our youths to read, in this instant-gratification society. Why read a 300-page book, when I can see the movie "On Demand" - which is less than two hours long?

The new things are "new" - but not better. So many will never know the joy of reading, because they haven't been told about it - or have been literally taught the opposite.

It makes one's heart sink.

 

[ratsy]

I know you guys are talking about a lot of kids not reading, well I know a lot of 30-60 year olds that never read. A lot. Hardly any one I know reads frequently, and I find it very strange. So I think it has to do with upbringing. My mom was always seen sitting in the sun with her nose in a book, so I picked up on it. And out of 4 boys, I by far read the most, while the others may be casual readers at best.

Also as to the OP, don't sweat this 'news'. Write books. Make them as good as you can. Keep doing it. Give yourself a chance instead of being bogged down by the 'what might happen so why bother'. There is a market for books still. You may not sell 50K of them, but I see a lot of people out there carving out a living at it themselves.