Ok, I finally had to start some serious weeding of my home library. (By "serious," I mean clearing out thousands of volumes.) Because the house has so many books on nearly every horizontal surface (including the stairs) and because many shelves are double-decked (one row of books behind another), Phase One was to lease an office to create a staging area.
I've moved essential books to the office -- reference, writing & editing, some high-priority new and recent books, and books on a few topics of special interest (preparatory to some writing projects). Well, that's fine, as the space includes Internet connection and is more conducive to writing and other projects than the kitchen table or living room couch, or even the too-full upstairs study.
That still left the house stuffed full of books. Hey, I've been collecting books for over fifty years, and every new topic of interest leads to a new pile of books (not to mention boxes and shelves of science fiction and mysteries).
I've been pulling out books I'll never read again or that are otherwise expendable (outdated, replaced by newer editions, and so on), earmarked for the SPCA book sale. Next up is a systematic pass through every room to weed out at least half of the books for donation. (Used book stores want to give trade credit, not pay cash. Trade credit does not help. And legitimate donations are tax-deductible. Even at charity-book-sale values of a buck or two a volume, that adds up.)
So what does that have to do with publishing? For one thing, it reminds me of the hill to climb to encourage readers who may already have too many books to buy another one. The incentive to buy has to be clear and immediate. That is one place where the author's own presence at signings and other events is important. The face-to-face contact is a selling point. Absent that, and assuming the author is not already a mega-star like a Stephen King or a Dan Brown, some other connection with the reader -- AKA "platform" -- is almost essential.
I say "almost" because a well-done genre book, displayed on book store shelves, may draw buyers who are looking for something new in their favorite genre. My favorite for leisure reading is mystery cozies, and I often find new authors to read from that sort of browsing. But that only works with wide distribution through book stores. My most recent visit to Barnes & Noble showed a continuing shrinkage in titles displayed and quantities offered. Lots of space is opening up, including on the "New Books" shelves. It is a sign of the increasingly challenging environment for authors -- especially new ones.
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