Midlist Nonfiction Books: Too Much Effort for Too Little Return?

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Pictured above: A slide from Margaret
Atwood's marvelous presentation at TOC on the future for authors






When it comes to non-narrative nonfiction books, I don't think of the authors of these
books as authors. I think of them as experts, entrepreneurs or business professionals
who are interested in authoring a book because of the credibility it lends them. Maybe
it makes it easier for them to get other paying gigs, or speaking invites, or to gather
more audience for other products and services.



In other words, the book is a critical aspect of their platform. Maybe for some authors
it's a money-maker, but most mid-list authors cannot quit their day job based on royalties.



I'm starting to wonder if a traditional print book has become a glorified platform
builder (and an ego booster) that doesn't deserve as much weight as we all still give
it. It offers precious little ROI given the time-sink of writing and promoting something
that's 80,000 words or more.




I speak from the author's point of view here, but certainly publishers must be asking
this question too. (I've seen what a typical nonfiction book sells. It's not much.)



Here are 2 key reasons why I would rethink pursuing authorship of a nonfiction book
(of the non-narrative kind).




1. For ideas/information, a book is becoming less and less of
an ideal medium. Consider all the ways one might convey the same ideas,
with even more power and impact, with either the same time commitment or less, and
for more money/value (plus it's content that's not tied up with a publisher!):

E-mail newsletters

Blog series

Self-study curriculum

Digital downloads (packages of content)

Slideshares

Online/community forum

Live online seminars or calls

Multimedia presentation (video/audio)

Mobile apps

2. For anyone who has the requisite platform to interest a publisher, there's probably
more money to be made in marketing and selling their own content, in whatever form/medium
they most enjoy (or their audience enjoys). As more and more readers transition
to digital reading devices, and physical bookstore distribution/visibility becomes
less relevant to success, a publisher will have to add value in some way that the
author cannot.




Will it be through editing? Probably not. The author can get that himself if he has
a good network. (And if he has a good platform, he has a good network.)




Will it be through direct-to-consumer relationships that the publisher has that the
author doesn't? Maybe, but the Internet levels the playing field, and most savvy authors
I know are developing their direct-to-reader reach—and would be more interested in
partnering with an Amazon or a Levenger—or some entity that has the attention of an
audience that the author has yet to capture or be exposed to.




A further note on the future


The book format is still being used too often, and in sloppy ways, to fill a holes
in publishers' schedules.



I love
how Kevin Kelly defines books:

A book is a self-contained story, argument, or body
of knowledge that takes more than an hour to read.

The majority of nonfiction books published today don't meet this
criteria honestly. Instead, they feel like a series of blog posts. The ideas are padded
to make a book. Often they they don't teach me anything I couldn't have found or learned
online; they regurgitate well-known knowledge in a sexy package. Sometimes even the
package isn't that great. For this reason alone, I think the book format loses credibility,
validity, and importance in our culture.



There is an alternative for everyone (aside from what I've described in points 1 and
2). As more reading and book buying moves into the digital realm, and publishers (and
authors) don't have to meet a certain length requirement or page count to be marketable
in print or through bookstores, quality ought to improve. Seth
Godin's Domino project is an example of how this is happening. Also take a look
at Atavist.



But these aren't really books by Kelly's definition—just an alternative and better
medium for delivering certain ideas. Perhaps this medium is one of the new business
cards or platform builders for tomorrow's nonfiction "authors." Not unlike traditional
publishing, you're getting the rubber stamp of a brand or an authority who believes
your work or your ideas merit their time and attention.



(Is it bad that I'm starting to use author in quotation marks? It already feels like
an anachronism in a world of collaboration, sharing, and electronic media.)



In any case: given that a formal book (whether print or digital) isn't going to be
the best way to deliver most information/advice/teachings in the future, I think Kevin
Kelly's definition will start to become the gold standard by which anyone (either
author or publisher) considers investing in this legacy form. But there are few authors
and few ideas out there that really deserve it.

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