New Just Broke…

We’re going to sum everything up: the APA (Audio Publishers Association) reported the rise in audiobook sales in 2018 being 24.5%!

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According to Publisher’s Weekly, this is a more accurate percentage. It’s accounting for sales receipts rather than estimated sales. Over 91% of audiobook sales are coming from a digital format…we’ve entered the digital age! Kidding, we’ve been living in it for quite some time now!

The more popular genres include general fiction, mysteries/thrillers/suspense, and sci-fi/fantasy. Nonfiction sales have risen and represent 32.7% of units sold in 2018; starting with general nonfiction, history/biography/memoir, and self-help.

The age group dominating a little over 91% of sales are adults. Young adult titles increased by double digits and audiobooks geared for children rose moderately.

Production of audio has risen 5.8% from 2017!

(This report was based on figures from 20 publishers, including all Big 5 houses.)

Gather Round!

On last week’s episode of Keeping Up With the Audio


♥ B.R. Kingsolver ♥

Witches’ Brew: Dark Streets, Book 3


♥ Bree Livingston ♥

Her Broken Billionaire Boss


Elizabeth Knox

Here Kitty, Kitty


Kathryn Andrews

Starless Nights


Maria Luis ♥

Body Check


Kristin Mayer ♥

Changed by You


Bobbi Holmes ♥

The Ghost and the Doppelganger


Katerina Martinez & Tansey Morgan ♥

Hellfire and Homicide


Kestra Pingree ♥

Saving the Werewolves


Krista Wolf ♥

Quadruple Duty


Lucy Smoke ♥

Heart of Tartarus


R.K. Lander ♥

Road of a Warrior


Shannon Esposito ♥

Karma’s a Bitch

(Almost) Ending the Year On Some Trendy Business

We know, we know…it’s not our last post of the year, but it’s close to it! We figured it would be good for anyone looking into getting published to get the heads up: the results are in, publishing trends are here.

Before we get started though, we want to direct you to the source in which the general info comes from. Opinions and advice are ours! But check out this blog/publishing service.

Let’s get right into it!

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  1. First and foremost, is the decline in reading going to push writers away from publishing their work?

    We vote a big fat NO. Reason being, we see the decline in reading as a way to push writers to treat their work with care (and to get into e-Pubbing, but we’ll discuss in a second.) Getting all the pre-publication shenanigans out of the way is something so many people don’t truly pay attention to – so maybe, it’s time we give our precious work some TLC and hire a few people to take a look at what we’ve got.

  2. Print books remain #1. What does this mean for you?

    While everyone (or maybe it was just me) believes that eBooks are the only way to read now, we come here to confirm: this is not true. Print books remain the champion of reading (even if less people do the act of reading.) Now, before you comment and say, “getting my book printed will cost so much money” or “I can’t seal the deal with PRH or Tor or any of those big publishers!” Don’t forget about print-on-demand: the most efficient way for a self-published author to get their book in physical format! So you can still make your way into the print market without a major publishing deal (sorry, big guys.)

  3. Audiobooks are still on the rise!

    We love audiobooks here at HRM. We talk about them enough to say we’re not surprised they’ll continue to rise come the new year.
  4. We’ve talked about it once, we’ll talk about it again: hybrid/collaborative publishing is important and will continue to rise in popularity in 2019. Why should it be important to you?

    Hybrid publishing and collaborative publishing are important mediums to self-published authors (or writers looking into self-publishing.) We want the quality of a major publisher (you know, the big tough editors and the fantastic printing jobs) but since deals from them are far and few between, we need an alternative. An alternative where we have creative flexibility and control over the work in question. These mediums are just that. They provide the quality care to your work as well as giving you the power over it – with consideration, of course. Major publishing houses ensure a bigger paycheck, but why not get your foot in the door to start?

  5. Marketing is your best friend.

    We talk about marketing a lot on this blog. It’s an important part of being a writer/author who wants exposure. If you’re interested in keeping up with a variety of marketing tactics, just use the search bar for this blog and we guarantee you’ll come across something.

 

Happy Holidays, everybody!

We Are Proud!

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Our office has been celebrating the upcoming release by our author, Mike Omer, published by Thomas & Mercer. A release that has been top of the charts for the last couple of weeks! A Killer’s Mind will be available for purchase on August 1st, 2018. Pre-order it today!

Three Chicago women have been found strangled, embalmed, and posed as if still alive. Doubting the findings of the local PD’s profiler, The FBI calls on forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley to investigate.

Zoe quickly gets off on the wrong foot with her new partner, Special Agent Tatum Gray. Zoe’s a hunter, intense and focused; Tatum’s a smug maverick with little respect for the rules. Together, they must descend into a serial killer’s psyche and untangle his twisted fantasies, or more women will die. But when the contents of three inconspicuous envelopes reveal a chilling connection to gruesome murders from Zoe’s childhood, suddenly the hunter becomes the hunted.

At It Again!

About a year ago, we talked about how the online writing community we all know as Wattpad has its pros and cons for the published community. Maybe you want to dive in and work on some short prequels. Or possibly write a quick spin-off for your begging readers. The site has wonderful resources to both expand on your writing abilities and become a platform for you to share the little details about your world to a new generation.

But it doesn’t stop there. Wattpad has had more than one success story.

There are authors who have signed traditional book deals for their works on Wattpad’s shelves. But just this past weekend, Publisher’s Weekly wrote up a great article discussing the most recent optioned pieces. You read that correctly: OPTIONED.

hollywood.gifHollywood has decided that maybe the comic book movies and remakes are not cutting it for the box office. It’s now very possible to be recognized by studios and producers who are trying to find the next big thing! All they have to do is refresh their page and see what everyone is reading!

So upload everything you can onto Wattpad. You’re (hopefully) going to Hollywood, baby!

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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It’s December 1st, meaning there’s only a month left of 2017. Looking forward to the new year, I have been browsing the prediction of publishing trends for 2018. If you’re stuck on what moves to make next in your publishing career, keep reading this post to see what publishing professionals are expecting to see for 2018!

  1. Digital Fatigue

    With the rise of the use of technology, many dedicated readers are taking a step away from their Nooks, their Amazon Fires, or their Kindle apps on their phone to dive back into the good ol’ days of traditional publishing, specifically paperbacks. Since 2016, e-book sales have dropped 35.9% and Nook earnings have dropped 26%. If you’re a reader taking a break from your cell phone or tablet screen and picking up a good book, I applaud you! If you’re a writer and wondering what to do with your fresh manuscript, looking into traditional publishing might be your New Year’s resolution.
  2. The Rise of Indie & Hybrid Publishing

    Indie publishing has taken over the publishing scene, but so is hybrid publishing right there next to it! From what it looks like, hybrid publishing may be bumping indie style out of the way to take the crown. Authors want to work with professionals who are familiar with the craft of publishing and hybrid publishing provides the professionals from the bigger companies to help the indie publishers make their mark in the world. Just keep in mind the market shares for self-published books is 42%, which is greater than the shares for big publishers at 34%.

  3. Longer E-Book Shelf Life = Increased Competition

    E-books enter a digital cloud and it’s pretty hard to delete them from the internet once exposed. With there being millions of books on the Amazon Kindle app, as well as on other platforms, it’s very easy to get lost in the mix. As a published author, if you’re seeing your sales decline/stagnant, revisit your titles and see what you can do. Maybe a new cover? Book description? Or even utilize some marketing resources to revitalize the title of your book. Or if you don’t see any improvement from there, publish more books! The more books you have available to readers, the better chance you have to get readers to buy.

  4. More Books, Stagnating Readership

    Although 73% of Americans read at least a book a year, there are so many books! “Discoverability” should become your best friend as a writer to help gain more exposure with your titles.

  5. Audiobooks are GROWING

    I saved the best for last! In 2013, 20,000 audiobooks were released. In 2014, 36,000 audiobooks were released. In 2015, valued at $2.8 billion, 43,000 audiobooks were released for the growing community of audiobook lovers! Kindle Unlimited is on the rise, as well, with access to 2,500 audiobooks for a great price!

B&N Has Something Up Their Sleeve…

BLOG bookstore.jpgAs an avid reader, receiving books as a gift for the holidays will always put a huge smile on my face. If you or someone you know feels the same way, I’ve got some news for you –  Barnes & Noble has revealed some great holiday gifts and ideas.

Barnes & Noble recently advertised how they are going to make book shopping easier. There will be a new Nook hitting the displays this holiday season. This updated device will have an automatic brightness adjustment which will sense the area surrounding the reader to make the screen more comfortable to read. Small features like this will help Barnes & Noble stay in the race of a very dominated industry. This would be a great gift for someone who enjoys technology or for the avid reader who might want to have a hand in helping to save a few trees.

 

The company has developed two new apps to make discovering new books and gift-giving easier: BookGraph and SmartGift.

The first app is BookGraph. It is only available as a desktop app. It is described as an “interactive discovery tool,” essentially showing shoppers a list of books that might interest them. It is meant to increase discoverability for both readers and authors.

The second app is called SmartGift. This app is available on both desktop and mobile devices. Users can send a gift to someone, who can either accept the gift or exchange it for something else of the same price.

The Barnes & Noble gift guide has been updated as well. If you’re feeling extra charitable this season, they are renewing their holiday book drive program in partnership with the Instagram brand, “Hot Dudes Reading.”

Keep in touch on social media with Barnes & Noble with the hashtag, #AllIWant.