The Print Book Industry: The Real Question We Should Be Asking

Garth Beyer

Bookstores are turning into gift shops and who goes to gift shops anymore. The book selection in bookstores is dwindling down to those which are most popular. Similar to a gift shop, you visit the shop simply to get the most popular gifts for the occasion. You don’t want to sort through thousands of unpopular books or gifts; it’s there because it’s popular. Then again, what is the point of having a gift shop or a place to buy books when you can order anything you want online and have it in a day? Just as well, what determines what is put in a gift shop? Almost always what is most popular online! Nearly 20 years ago, professionals were arguing whether the print book industry was dying or was just in a slump. Then, in 1995, with the introduction of Amazon, we knew that the print book industry wasn’t just on a rollercoaster, it was on a plummet to its death. However, one can’t simply decide whether the print book industry will survive based on one-sided facts. One must look at the change Amazon has brought to the print book industry and the technological changes that are being forced. In the end, there may be a more important question than whether the print book industry will survive or not.

Video summary

Limitless isn’t merely a highlighted word in Jeff Bezos’ mental dictionary, it is the only word. Bezos, the creator of Amazon, knew that there was no limit to what can be sold and bought using the internet. What better way to start up an online retail business than by using the foundation of books? “After all, even the larger 60,000-square-foot emporiums of Barnes & Noble and Borders could carry no more than 175,000 titles. Amazon, by contrast, was virtually limitless in its offerings.” (Wasserman, 2012) Previously, Barnes & Noble and Borders took out the small independent book sellers, Amazon didn’t need to lift a digital finger. Now, Borders has been desolated, Barnes & Noble deteriorating, all the while Amazon is globally increasing their revenue. One might think this has nothing to do with the death of print books because Amazon sells print books. As a matter of fact, Amazon has been the vehicle that caused the statistics to flip: internationally, the number of eBooks sold each year has greatly outnumbered the number of print books. (2012) Here, you have the Amazon Effect. The Amazon Effect has taken something wholesome and tangible and has turned it into nostalgia. In fact, to some, it is this nostalgia that has kept the book industry going on the brink of survival for the seven years that Amazon has been leading in the book industries sales. It is the idea that technology can never replicate the feeling, smell, and experience of holding a book. Many suggest that because holding a book has become part of our culture that it will remain so. When in fact, cultural change is the only constant the American society can predict. Let’s take a look at how the cultural change of the digital revolution has reflected the number of writers and authors.

One would imagine that there would be a decrease in writers due to the dying print book industry. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, from 2010-20, there is an expected growth of 9,500 writers and authors. (2012) At first glance, this statistic would appear to support the survival of the print book industry. That observation is inaccurate. There are two major reasons for the increase, neither of which supports the survival of print books. The first reason for the occupational increase is the ability to electronically self-publish in the sense of authors converting their books and articles to digital versions and selling them online or simply offering them up for free to build a tribe of followers. The second is the increased need for digital writers. Every company, agency, and business understands the value of their digital and social media involvement. As a result, they must hire multiple writers and authors to provide consistent online content and interaction. The occupational outlook is positive for writers and authors, but it does not reflect positively on the book industry. In fact, the increase of writers and authors is quickening the death of the print book industry.

One might want to respond that the occupational outlook statistics are true and the increase in media involvement then helps publishers to sell more printed books. “The book industry thrives because it feeds into so many other forms of media.” (1997) This quote was taken from the films on demand video, Book Industry. The fact the video made that statement in 1997, only two years after Amazon was created, says something very powerful, yet contradictive. The actions the print book industry has made – to enter other forms of media – were forced by the immediate critical hit Amazon dealt to the print book industry. Yet how can the print book industry compete with Amazon?

–          Public taste is fickle when it comes to books, so Amazon opened the doors to unlimited options. It’s hard to get a store to sell a book to become a bestseller and much easier to get it on one of Amazon’s Top 100 lists – all of which can be bought in digital formats.

–          The only book reviews one sees in a store are on the book and obviously biased. However, on Amazon, you have hundreds, sometimes thousands, of honest and full opinions online from readers around the globe.

–          Traditional book stores need to keep up with trends, Amazon created a place for trends to start – online.

–          One visit to Amazon would show that the price of books can be up to 80% off the regular store price – the majority being eBooks.

Pulling from an academic article written in 1994,

Jon Berger, electronic publishing consultant for William Byrd Press in Richmond, Va. says it will take five to 10 years for electronic media to catch up with print’s volume, and another l5 to 20 years for electronic media to become more widespread than print. (Heger, 1994)

It is now 2012, 18 years after the statement was made by a professional electronic publishing consultant and while his predictions of what will happen have come true, his estimated time was far off. The speed at which the digital revolution is taking over the print book industry is occurring at a quicker pace than could have ever been predicted. All the while, the print book industry is trying to use the digital revolution to its advantage. According to, Erin Carriero, author of Electronic Books: How Digital Devices and Supplementary New Technologies are Changing the Face of the Publishing Industry says,

While it is true that the publishing industry has been struggling, new technology and the advent of digital devices on which to read books have not handed down the death sentence to publishers. In actuality, ‘computers and other new technologies may in fact be enhancing our ability to produce and distribute printed books, ensuring that books will continue to be a part of our future.’ Publishing giants all over have recognized this reality and have tweaked company strategies accordingly. (2010)

Publishers, knowing how powerful the digital revolution is, have tried to incorporate it as much as possible into the life of the print book industry.

The print book industry is using technology as a supplement. J. Ayodeji, writer of The Book an Adaptation from the Film: Technology, Narrative, Business & How the Book Industry Might Adapt the Film, thinks that the book industry can survive if it follows the transformation the film industry has made. In one example he says, “Thematically linked digital boxsets of books can be easily imagined; the digitally annotated Student Guide Edition of a book is an easy sell but what about the rest of us, the reading public? How might this networked future affect the book?” (Ayodeji, 2011, p. 6) In a sense, Ayodeji is suggesting that we can create additional digital platforms to books. Take, for a perfect example J.K. Rowling’s creation of Pottermore. She has taken her book and created a digital world of it for readers to enter. Additionally, one can find hundreds of children’s books that, when read online, provide a learning experience. In essence and at first glance, the digital revolution isn’t killing the print book industry; it’s merely giving it multiple streams to form revenue. However, one must understand that all these digital additions to books can be done to the digital versions of the books as well. In fact, it seems more logical to have everything in one place rather than needing a hard copy of a book and a computer. Instead, one simply needs a computer to have both the book and its digital counterparts.

Despite this positive transition the print book industry is pursuing, to combine the digital revolution with the hard copy of books, there is an important question that must be answered before one can decide whether they believe the print book industry will die or not. How much change will the print book industry withstand, until it becomes something else completely? If the print book industry performs all the technological adaptations it must to survive, can one still call it the print book industry? In other words, if hard copy books become one small piece of a much larger puzzle, it seems illogical to look at it as the print book industry. It would seem that the print book industry’s efforts to leverage the digital revolution to its favor, is actually speeding the process of the elimination of print books.  It is not a matter of whether the print book industry will survive or not, it is a matter of what we are willing to still consider to be the print book industry.

 

Stay Positive & It’s Pretty Crazy We Decide The Fate Of It, Isn’t It?

Garth E. Beyer

 

 

References

Ayodeji, J. (2011). The Book an Adaptation from the Film: Technology, Narrative, Business & How the Book Industry Might Adapt the Film. International Journal Of The Book, 8(3), 113-122.

(2012) Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Writers and Authors, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/writers-and-authors.htm

Carreiro, E. (2010). Electronic Books: How Digital Devices and Supplementary New Technologies are Changing the Face of the Publishing Industry. Publishing Research Quarterly, 26(4), 219-235. doi:10.1007/s12109-010-9178-z

Films Media Group. (1997). Book industry [H.264]. Available from http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=3891&xtid=8559.

Heger, K. (1994). Print: A road kill on the information superhighway?. Communication World, 11(9), 30.

WASSERMAN, S. (2012). The Amazon Effect. Nation, 294(25), 13-22.

You Don’t Have The Experience

Garth Beyer

That’s the biggest problem with people looking to start at any rung of the ladder beside the bottom. It’s a universal problem that prevents us from doing the work we know we can do well.

Why is it then, that although you know you can do something, you’re still not allowed to do it? Because you don’t have the experience. And why is that?

Because experience doesn’t mean that you know how to do something or even do it well.

I think it’s a fair moment to share a quote from Oscar Wilde,

“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes“

It’s actually easy to start half way up the ladder and even sometimes closer to the top. The only way to be granted that spot, though, is through humility, through sharing all the mistakes you have made and what you learned from them.

I could write for the New York Times, easily. They have editors,  I don’t have to worry too much about the details, just write as best I can. Why don’t they hire me then? Because I don’t have enough “experience.” I haven’t made enough mistakes, don’t have enough stories, I wouldn’t be a good enough teacher because I have yet to learn everything (the hard way).

It’s the mistakes that make the experience and the experience that delivers you to your dream job.

I guess that means there’s only one thing for you to do if you want what you want. You have to do the hard stuff, the humiliating stuff, the emotional labor. You have to make more mistakes.

Stay Positive & No, It May Not Be The Only Way, But It Is The Best Way

Garth E. Beyer

Garthbox

Garth Beyer

I understand that you may learn a skill or lesson one day from conquering adversity, but if you don’t review it or put it into further action, it disappears after seven days (or less). As a result of this understanding, I highly encourage you to bookmark the home page, come back and read my new posts and review the archives. Unlike other blogs, I came out swinging since day one and will never write a “filler” post that fails to reach the level of impression that I deem acceptable.

On the note of adversity, Marvin Ashton was known for stating,

“Adversity will surface in every life. How we meet it makes the difference.”

Adversities are a part of living and we choose the way we react to each adversity in our lives. I would be the last to deny that adversities can be exceedingly difficult. Many times they will be senseless, unfair, painful, and beyond our control to prevent. However, they come into our lives for a reason. We can choose to learn valuable lessons from each adversity we encounter.

The true purpose of GarthBox:

To turn you on with life lessons, Give you a constant dose of motivation to make a ruckus, Bring you closer to success and quite simply to make you aware of all the tools and power you are already equipped with.

And of course to get you to use that power.

 

Stay Positive & Follow

Garth E. Beyer

Imagine Better

Garth Beyer

What you deserve is a challenge to your imagination.

If you don’t know already, to use your imagination involves working nearly every part of your brain: the cortex, hippocampus, neocortex, thalamus, […] and worst of all, the amygdala.

It’s hard to work every part of your brain to produce something remarkable. But it must be done if you want your work to be just that – something remarkable.

The challenge lies in your experiences. Everything you have experienced to be the “best feeling/event/thing” in the world, you have to imagine something better, bigger, and more ridiculously great. Once imagine things being just a bit better, go make it happen.

To live a fuller life, you have to stretch your

spongebob_imagination_by_kssael_display

Stay Positive & If You Can Imagine It, You Can Have It

Garth E. Beyer

Secret recipe: work

One Of Life’s Favorite Students

Garth Beyer

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream had some wise words to share. The bottom of the ice cream lid said “A dream alone is just a dream. A dream together is reality.” I am one motivated and high-hoped soul with dreams above the clouds. One year ago, I read the quote by Ben & Jerry and realized that I was going to need a partner in some of my business-creating endeavors. I could only think of one person that I would want to build a business with: Katie Christianson.

All throughout middle school, I grew up knowing Katie, but never talked to her until high school. Our ambitions aligned when we were both offered a chance to be in a program that allowed us to attend college full-time and skip our junior and senior years of high school. It was in college when we realized we had a similarly ambitious mindset and became close friends. Who better choose to interview than someone with a “make the most out of life” attitude?

Having just turned 20, Katie was born in Chicago and raised in Belvidere, Illinois. Katie is now back in Chicago getting her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Loyola University. While a formal education has taught her a lot, some of her biggest lessons came from the greatest teacher known to women, Life. With a mere 20 years of being Life’s student, Katie has learned more than those who are twice her age.

Katie Christianson

At the age of five, she realized that you don’t need anyone to tell you what you can and can’t do. Her mom took her, her sister, and her aunt to Florida when her dad was being a grouch about spending money. “Fine,” her mom said, “we will go without you.” Katie now affirms that you don’t let people hold you back, especially not when they hold you back from maximizing the quality of your life.

Kids will believe anything. And once they believe it, there is little anyone can say or do to change that belief. Katie was no exception to this rule. She shared her story about how she thought she was being evicted when she was six years old.

I thought my parents were lying to me when I came home from kindergarten one day and saw a “for sale” sign in the front yard of our house because my dad was always commenting about how broke we were. My mom was the opposite and would spend her last dime on making us happy so that we always felt secure, but I knew she was just being protective. So when I came home and saw a “for sale” sign in the front yard of our home, I thought we were being kicked out. My mom told me it was because the landlord passed away, but I didn’t believe her. This experience made me realize how important money was. It made me be creative and very budget-conscious even as a six year old. I felt guilty if I spent my parent’s money at all knowing that those funds were being pulled away from something else, so I would try selling lemonade or my belongings to make money. I later realized that the story my mom told me was actually true once I understood how estates are handled after the owner dies, but by the time I fully understood the concept, being savvy was already a part of who I was.

This story screams “maturity,” but, let’s face it, Katie was six years old – still a kid. That leaves an open question, just when did she grow up? Contrary to any assumption, Katie grew up two years after the house-for-sale controversy. After a work-related accident, Katie’s mom became permanently disabled. At first, this had no real effect on Katie other than her mom was always home and her dad worked more. It wasn’t until the day Katie fell off her bike in the street outside her house that she fully understood the effect of her mother’s permanent disability. “I started crying for her.” It was in that moment, when her mom looked at her from the window, that Katie knew there wasn’t going to be anyone coming outside to help her. “I had to help myself. I had to get up, brush myself off, and get out of the street. That’s the day I grew up.”

Among these lessons, Katie learned countless others. She developed a fear of having regret at her deathbed after living with a family member who found out he had terminal cancer the same day he had to have both legs amputated due to diabetes. Recently, Katie learned life is about finding hope in hopeless situations after losing her best friend on June 4th, 2012. As Katie puts it, “there are so many people who need you to pull through so that they can find the strength to pull through themselves.” Since as far back as Katie can remember, she knew that there was something deep within her, something special. “I know if I don’t make the most of each day, I am hindering this inner power.” She understands that she is in this world for a greater cause, admirably selfless in her way of living.

In addition to the hardships and lessons life has taught her, she has also had to combat the deep stereotypes about women that have been ingrained into society. I have witnessed with my own eyes that Katie has had to work harder to stand out. People automatically look to men to lead situations and they are surprised to see Katie being the one to take charge. Katie also admits that it’s a challenge, being a woman, to control her emotions. However, she says, “Women’s brains are wired to be 7 times more emotional than men, so it makes us better able to empathize. My ability to understand different perspectives has made me a better listener and a better friend.”

Personally, I have to say that all that makes Katie who she is doesn’t turn her into just a better friend, it makes her the best. Her determination is ruthless and her compassion and selflessness is considered, by some, to be reckless. Heck, I’m even a bit frightened of where she’s going in life. The goals Katie has set out to accomplish may come as a shock because she doesn’t just dream big, she dreams of turning the impossible into done it and onto the next one. I have learned so much from Katie and she has brought me to tears with her stories of how she got to where she is today. If there is one thing that I would take away from all Katie has taught me, it is that “it’s about persevering when everyone around you would understand if you didn’t.”

 

Stay Positive & Keep At It Katie

Garth E. Beyer

Katie has just started up her blog. You can visit it here

Hiring A Freelance Writer?

Garth Beyer

I’m your guy, resulting in direct success for your blog/businesses. After reading posts that I have made, you know that the ideas, the motivation, and the creativity are there.

What you may not know is that I also Ghostwrite for other private employers with topics including, jobs, education, all corners of business, marketing, the way ideas spread, improvements, budgets, career changes, life & work decisions, public relations, personal stories, and anything else in relation to these topics. Additionally, I do interviews and reports for business’s and other individuals which I would be happy to do for you.

But, it doesn’t end there. I can write about anything. I will do the extensive necessary research to become a professional on the specific topic choice. My ability to adapt and overcome with success can not be competed with. You will realize that my writing breaks boundaries and mechanical preferences in order to exceed formal expectations which results in value so rich its richness becomes tangible. (Yes, by that I mean profitable.)

You can always reach me at thegarthbox@gmail.com

Statistics, Trends, and Meaning

Garth Beyer

StatsTrendsMeaning

Our world is plastered with statistics. Some good. Some bad. But all, relative, subjective, and never quite capturing the whole picture.

That’s a statistic though.

What we want is that bittersweet spot between the alphabet and the number system, between a statistic and the reality of it all. (The reality being that one can never simplify their lives down to fulfill one statistic.) What we want is trends.

Discovering trends creates a yin-yang vibe to creativity. Fifty percent of your mind thinks, “hey, similar ideas to this have worked in the past,” or “these numbers look offly familiar to the numbers in 1980, 1964, and 1952.” The other 50 percent of your mind is asking “what does this mean?”

You have a field covered with geese. The geese then take flight and you have a flock. The flock flies in a V formation, and now you have meaning.

Statistics alone make you think of all the goose poop on the ground. Put the statistics together and give them a kick, and you have a trend – something that works consistently and collectively. Then it is to each his own to derive meaning from it.

The meaning you come up with is what becomes invaluable to your readers and listeners.

Note though, that detailing the meaning alone in a book though, is pointless.

There’s a famous philosopher called Kierkegaard. He wrote an insanely long volume about the existence of God. In the end, he notes that all of what you have read is pointless, that nothing of it matters, but the journey was an important one for you to take to make that realization. This is the result of only writing about meaning. It’s a journey, yes, and maybe entertaining, but in the end, pointless.

It is the statistics and the trends that you put before the meaning which induce action. Without them there are no stepping-stones, only preaching to an audience who has no reason to believe you are credible enough to be preaching. Meaning alone is simply interesting.

 

Stay Positive & Use Statistics and Trends. Don’t Pull A Kierkegaard.

Garth E. Beyer