Publishing Perspectives
presented by Sam Shinta
Fulcrum Publishing
35 years in business
This presentation was made at the Native American Museum in Bensenville Arkansas 6.16.2018
Publishers look at the world differently.
Worldwide between 2016 and 2017
Sales increased by 3%
Children’s books decreased by 2%
Paperbacks decreased by .2%
Downloaded audiotapes increased by 30%
E-book sales decreased by 5%
The number of readers in the United States remained about the same
Amazon accounts for 32% of book sales
Fiction sales increased 5%
Poetry sales are increasing
Social awareness sales are increasing
Tips
To sell books look at trends
Stay in your environment (genre)
a publisher will not handle all of your publicity… It’s about a 50-50 split
The money is not in publishing at this time, share resources
From a publishers’ perspective, if the book sells 500 copies in its lifetime, it’s a success
Write because you must do it
Target your area of publishing
Read the publishers requirements and guidelines
Understand their policies
Have a platform
Know your market
The market for the audio is booming… But difficult to get into because of the cost
The person reading your work needs to be paid too
audio.com is a big player in this game
Graphic novels are booming… Amazon is getting into the game designing and printing them
Include minorities in the graphic novels (comic books)
C. Allan Butkus 