So You Want A Fandom [#Publishing] [#MarketResearch]

Are We All Just Authors Marketing To One Another?

Let's say you're a writer. A really good writer. You practice on at least a semi-regular basis, and you've gotten critiques from people above your peer level. People whom you only know from online say they love your work and ask for more. And now you feel as if you're ready to take the next step.

Maybe you've already taken strides on that journey. Maybe you're in the early stages of considering it. But if you have tried to sell your novels to a mass audience, then the following questions will have occurred to you:

⭒ How do I find my audience?

⭒ Why do so many readers want to be writers?

⭒ Are we all just authors marketing to one another?

⭒ Is there some secret sauce I'm missing?

⭒ Is there something wrong with this industry?

⭒ Will it ever change in a way that favors the type of author I am?

This book is my attempt to answer those questions.

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First, here's a quick sketch of the fiction publishing industry as it currently exists. It has two lobes: Trad and Indie.  

Traditional publishing, or "trad pub," is dominated by the Big Four. All major imprints are owned by these four multinational conglomerates: MacMillan, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, and Bertelsmann: Penguin Random House Simon & Schuster. 

Independent publishers do exist, but the worthwhile ones generally have partnerships with Big Four retail catalogs and networks. Small presses and micro-presses might subsidize the costs of formatting your book for print and that sort of thing, but they are generally not the route to gaining a mass audience. They don't have major marketing budgets.

In other words, if you want the benefits of traditional publication—a route into major bookstores, and a team of people dedicated to marketing your book—then your goal is to gain a Big Four (or Big Four adjacent) contract. 

Indie publishing, otherwise known as self-publishing, is dominated by the online retailer Amazon. Unlike the trad pub industry, there are no gatekeepers or middlemen, other than the retailer. You are selling directly to readers, rather than selling to a literary agent who then sells to a Big Four editor who then sells to a major distribution network who then sells to retailers who then sell it to readers. 

This means you pocket a lot more of the profit, and you own all the rights to your book, empowering you to control everything about its content and its marketing package. The drawback is that the author must take on all their own business expenses and marketing. Indie authors are small business operators. They are entrepreneurs as well as being authors.

There are significant differences between indie and trad pub, not only in terms of approach and methodology, but also in terms of the readership they attract. Both paths are difficult. Both paths have pros and cons. The learning curve for both paths is steep, which means many authors stick with one and barely dabble in the other.

Here's a glance at some topics I intend to cover in this work.

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Are We All Just Authors Marketing To One Another?

The Great Print Retail Consolidation: 1980s — 1990s

Digital Media Early Adapters: 1998 — 2006

Amazon Opens the Floodgates: 2007 — 2009

The Smart Mobile Boost: 2010 — 2013

The Self-Publishing Gold Rush: 2014 — 2016

Marketing Bros: 2017 — 2020 & Beyond