SFA 129 – Why Book Sales Are Down and What to Do About It

Jo, Lindsay, and Andrea have returned to record a one-off episode discussing the current global situation and how it’s affecting book sales. We also talk about some things authors can do during tougher economic times to keep the income up. Lastly, we give an update on our own publishing endeavors over the last six months.

Things that could be affecting book sales right now:

• War/global tensions
• Looming recession
• Inflation
• Strong dollar / weak everything else
• Labor shortages
• Mental illness / Collective fatigue
• Housing crisis
• General global upheaval
• Demand saturation, tapering-off growth
• Declining old-guard ad platform effectiveness

Future concerns / long-term trends that could affect book sales / author income going forward over the next decade:

• Possible further global instability
• Inflation might not be that transitory
• 70% royalty might not be forever
• Demographics (population decline)
• Competition from AI-produced content
• Broadening entertainment alternatives
• Growing belief from consumers that content should be free or creators shouldn’t get paid much for creating it

What to do about it all:

• For inflation, we can raise prices where possible.
• For possible changes in the stores (i.e. royalties), it’s not a bad idea to sell direct and/or have a Patreon/Kickstarter plan in case you need to lean more on places where you keep most of the sales price.
• Somewhat in contrast to the last, if consumers are spending less, it might not be the time to ditch Kindle Unlimited if you’re established there and it’s been good to you, as people will cancel their subscriptions last.
• In as much as your muse might allow, try to stay relevant and consider writing some stuff with the larger and bigger-reading generations in mind (i.e. Millennials) and be aware of what they dig.
• For war, not much we can do beyond hoping for de-escalation rather than escalation. If it helps to know this has all happened before, and we made it through, Neil Howard’s Fourth Turning is a good read.
• If things are bad, consider taking on a regular job for stability and sanity.
• Check in with your readers, and write more of what’s sold well for you in the past.
• Reach out to others through service – help a new author, pay it forward, create a multi-author promotion, etc. and build relationships.
• Use this time to stack books for a future launch or work on efforts that will pay off in the future when times get better.
• Avoid going all-in with any single technique/retailer.
• Explore new formats that are less saturated (i.e. graphic novels, audiobooks).

News updates from the gang

Thanks for listening, and check out the back list episodes for more tips and help figuring out why your books in particular might be struggling.