Writing a Book? Read This.

Part Eight: Nonfiction Realities.

Hardcover Nonfiction

1-OATH AND HONOR : Lyn Cheney

2-THE WOMAN IN ME: Britney Spears

3-THE WAGER: David Grann

4-MY NAME IS BARBRA: Barbra Streisand

5-FRIENDS, LOVERS, AND THE BIG TERRIBLE THING: Matthew Perry

New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller List, Top Five, December 24, 2023

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As the year closes, book bans around the country are a serious concern. As for AI, the battle for control at OpenAI suggests that the future of artificial intelligence will not be eleemosynary.

But overall book sales for the 2023 were solid to slightly up, thanks in large measure to Britney Spears, Prince Harry, genre romance, and fantasy writers with TikTok followers in the millions.

One sector’s numbers are down. Topical, meaningful nonfiction is in a slump. The hardcover sales of books that I would have been proud to publish are somewhere in the range of 2,000 to 3,500 copies, despite being well received in reviews and in response to author appearances.

Forget the “Trump bump.” As I’ve written before my sense is that all those exposés by intrepid reporters and his cohort of allies and foes had bursts of sales but are destined to be forgotten.

The overwhelming number of nonfiction books announced each week in the lists of new acquisitions maintained by Publishers Lunch, an industry newsletter, tell you what’s wrong with you, what’s wrong with society, and what’s wrong with the world at large – with recommendations for change or assurances of continuing despair. These books carry an author’s or a publisher’s hopes for at least a modicum of fame and fortune that most will not achieve.

So, what’s to be done?

Generally, authors and publishers of history, biography, memoir, or journalistic revelation focus expectations on the hardcover edition. Initial publication in trade paperback is mainly for instant books (like the January 6 Committee’s blockbuster), reference guides, and self-help of various kinds. The hardcover book is an artifact to be shelved with pride. Even in the digital age it has particular stature, like the classic printed story in The New Yorker or movies that can be seen “only in theaters.” Hardcovers are the books usually displayed in the front of stores as bookseller choices, they tend to be the books that are reviewed and considered for prizes, and they feature in discount promotions around holidays.

Traditionally, after a year or so, a nonfiction title with some likelihood of longevity is released in trade paperback, at about half the price of the hardcover. But since the advent of the ebook, the digital audiobook, and eternal life online, this reissue in paperback seems to happen only when the hardcover edition’s initial sales were robust. Cover prices for trade paperbacks often soar past $20. The low-price mass-market paperback for serious nonfiction almost doesn’t exist.

Over the decades, the materials used to manufacture the case that binds the pages into a volume have become synthetic rather than, say, fabric or leather, but illustrated dust jackets are still signals of importance -- and without them, hardcover books feel undressed.

And then there is the relative economics of the different formats, meaning what they are likely to produce in terms of revenue and, ultimately, profits. Not being an accountant myself and despite years of experience in the business, the relative financial benefits of hardcover publication, versus the other formats, remain muddled to me.

The unit costs of producing a printed hardcover book are of course higher than digital or audio downloads – which are only manufactured once for multiple uses, do not have to be shipped, and are not subject to costly returns. But hardcovers bring in more revenue per unit sold than the other formats – except, of course, when they don’t sell.

Literary agents, by experience, almost always measure a book’s prospects by the advance guarantee it receives from the publisher – the bigger the better. And publishers base their projections for sales on the “announced first printing,” which is the way they quantify the bet on hardcover sales and also tends to determine the size of the advance and the marketing budget behind the book.

I have two suggestions for changing the paradigm, because the way our business works, if sales trends continue down on nonfiction of consequence, there will be fewer such books published, and authors will be even more frustrated by the difficulty of finding a publisher ready to take them on.

(1) Books should be presented as multiplatform objects, emphasizing the experiences available for enjoying a book, in your hand, on a screen, or in your ear. Audio is the fastest growing sector of publishing, and there are vast numbers of people who want to increase the font size of the text, which you can do on screens. Taking advantage of what becomes available with technology is one way progress in civilization takes hold. For example, one of the phenomena of the streaming age is how many people add subtitles when watching video, to offset competing noise or for convenience – because you can do that. This has increased  enjoyment of the medium and  encouraged watching.

(2) Books should be published by “bundling” formats: selling the printed book with a link to the ebook, or an ebook with a link to the audiobook, either read by a professional or by a robot. (You can get used to it.) How to price a bundle is a question to be resolved. Publishers, business managers, and literary agents should confer on how to make this feasible. That is not collusion to corner the market; it is sharing data to expand the market. There will always be a balance of money interests among everyone in the chain that results in books. But think of the progress that has already been made in publishing books in multiple formats, and at price points that offer consumers a choice. Portability is the goal. Realistically, Barbra Streisand’s massive memoir, priced at $47, is not meant to be carried. The ebook is available, as is the audiobook, with Barbra reading the text, which is for sale to Audible subscribers for one monthly credit. Devoted Streisand fans, we went for the audio at a fraction of the hardcover price. (Amazon sells Kindle and Audible as a bundle with the ability to toggle between them, since it owns both brands)

The only real danger to publishing is that people won’t or can’t buy or read the books. In 2024, as has been true almost every year since Gutenberg’s bible was printed centuries ago, the future of books is at stake and deserves our commitment to continued and widespread readership in whatever way is possible. Innovation and experimentation are essential.

An additional note to authors:

As I have written before, even when your book is not on bookstore shelves, if it carries a universal identifier called an ISBN inside or on the back cover, it can be ordered by a bookseller from a distributor and delivered usually in a matter of days or in ebook or audio versions, on demand.

Finding ways to let people know your book is available is a challenge every author confronts, always has been and always will be.