The Magnificent Power of Books – Print Books, Audiobooks, and Ebooks

The Magnificent Power of Books – Print Books, Audiobooks, and Ebooks

Confused about which format to publish your book in? Print, digital, audio or all three? Why or why not? I have answers.

I won’t go into a rant about how people don’t read anymore. Although, that rant is one of the reasons this post came to me. As if the publishing industry was crying about people not reading. They are not.

What I want to say right now is that books of all kinds are still popular. Print. Digital (eBooks). Audio. The fact that they exist, those different flavors of books, proves that people still read and books are still worth writing.

Ebooks: The Digital Companion To Print

Lately, I’ve heard a lot of chatter about eBooks and audiobooks. There are passionate proponents who believe audiobooks will take over print and leave those paper books in the dust. There are also a good number of detractors who say don’t worry about an audiobook right now. An audiobook can be a long-term goal but having one shouldn’t influence your publishing decisions yet. You can learn more about the global appeal of audiobooks here, at this MBB blog post from a few months ago.

Just this week I heard someone say create an eBook first, then print, then audio. I take umbrage with that as I believe you need that eBook at the same time as you create your print. Pew Research tells us that “three in ten Americans now read eBooks” though print still reigns supreme. 😍 Despite sales drops, print unit sales in 2023 were still 10% ahead of the last pre-pandemic year in 2019.  (stat from The Bookseller)

And I’m hearing people say they want both, the eBook and the print book. Honestly when you’re searching for a quote you’ve underlined or just want to grab that book to get the author’s name, taking if off your bookcase is just so much easier!

However, do not discount the value of producing an eBook when you publish. Available in various formats, including EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and AZW, you will reach all of your audience with your eBook. Compatibility is sometimes an issue, depending on what device you favor, but your favorite book will be offered on multiple platforms to make it easy for people to purchase.

And, of course, eBooks are environmentally friendly. No trees to cut down to deliver that book to you.

Let’s not go into price. Yes, they’re generally cheaper. But don’t buy an eBook because it costs less than print or audio. Buy it because you are fond of your Kindle or other eBook reading device.

Print Books Continue to Live On ❕❕❕

I will admit it’s true that print book sales are in a slight decline (but not going away!), yet when you figure in the number of books printed every year, far more than the world needs, it’s easy to understand that the decline in print sales isn’t necessarily because fewer people are reading. It’s because there are so many more books – accelerated by AI (not a book I want to read) – than there is time to buy or read them. Tom wrote about this recently in his post Who’s Reading All Those Books.

In an article at Lithub.com, author Maris Kreizman makes the case for publishing fewer books (and this would include eBooks or audiobooks) of higher quality. (with thanks to Linda Dessau, editor and LinkedIn friend who alerted me to this article)

She writes, “There are already too many books in the world. As a reader, I’m constantly overwhelmed with new material, and I know I’m not alone. And this is before we factor in how the market is flooded with AI-generated ripoffs for sale on Amazon.”

In a previous article, Kreizman reveals her reading style. I think this is worth sharing because it shows that people like Kreizman and myself and Tom, are looking for good books. Books that have a story to tell. Books we can relate to. Whether they are Indie published or traditionally published. It’s the story we want to hear. At Master Book Builders, those are the books we want to help authors publish. In all formats.

Kreizman writes in her article,

“The books that move me aren’t the kinds that are written by celebrities; they’re often labors of love that are beautifully written but don’t necessarily have a built-in audience. They probably aren’t getting huge sales pushes or bookings on morning shows. I feel beholden to advocate for these debut novels or essay collections or literary biographies, but there are not nearly enough hours in the day to look at all of them.”

Lithub – Why is March 2024 the Best Month for Books In Years?

Audiobooks Do More Than Just Tell The Story 💜

Let’s focus on audiobooks now. I’m in the passionate group of people who understand that audio harkens us back to days of old. When people told stories around the campfire. When audio was all there was.

Today, listening to a novel, or a nonfiction book, or a memoir, delivers something more expressive and emotional. Remember those fond days of having your mother or father read a book to you at bedtime? It’s a feeling of belonging and comfort.

Psychology Today says this about the power of audiobooks:

“Audio is the fastest growing segment in digital publishing and podcasts are booming, changing the way we listen to radio.”

“…another reason for the appeal of audio books is that they can help to boost mood. Those of us prone to anxiety and depression understand from bitter experience the negative spin cycle of thoughts that accompanies both mental states. Slowing these thoughts enough to read can be hard, if not impossible. Whereas audio does this for you.”

And, “…and self-soothing is part of the allure of audio to young and old today.”

From Publisher’s Weekly, we learn that in 2022, audiobooks took a jump:

“The largest gain in the year was for audiobook sales, which jumped 22% over 2021, to $3.04 billion. For a second year, audiobook sales topped that of e-books, where sales increased 6%, to $2.57 billion. Though sales of print books dipped 0.6%, the format was still the largest by far, with online sales of $6.52 billion.”

Be Prepared For All Book Formats AS YOU WRITE! 🖋

I had so much more I wanted to say about book publishing formatting, but I’m running out of time and space. I’ll save my Top 10 Questions People Ask About Audiobooks and Ebooks for another time.

I’ll end with this, eBooks should come as a package deal when you work with a publisher or an Indie company like us. Our authors get an eBook and a paperback when we’re done. We believe in both, print and digital.

Then, understand that audiobooks are not cheap to produce. At least they shouldn’t be. Don’t scrimp on your voiceover talent (are you qualified to voice your own book? maybe, maybe not; it isn’t the sound of your voice that matters so much as your experience reading aloud and the hours and hours it takes to voice an audiobook properly, in a quiet room or studio with the right equipment).

Make sure you have the right tech talent. The platforms that offer audiobooks have tech requirements for the sound files you send them. It’s best to work with a professional who can take care of this for you.

If your book includes graphs and charts, decide how you want those described. It can be tricky. One idea is to have one voice do the narration of the main content, and another voice describe the charts and graphs.

ACX (part of Amazon) and FindawayVoices (part of Spotify) are the main audiobook platforms.

The demise of reading will continue to be floated about in conversations about books. Don’t believe it. Yes, people still buy print books. But, eBooks and audiobooks are here to stay. If you’re serious about your work, if you want your book to have the most impact, you need all three. Fit them in your overall budget. Yes, start with print and digital first. Then move on to the audiobook. This way, you can launch and announce the digital and print book to your raving fans and three months later say, “Hey, great news! My book is in audio now!”

It all comes down to promotion. The more opportunity you can create to promote your work, the better.

Which reader type are you? Digital? Print? Or audio? (yes, audio counts as reading) Share in the comments.

Follow me on LinkedIn and Ring My 🔔. I share content like this on a daily basis.

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