Writers and AudioBooks

June is AudioBook Month. This area of publishing continues to expand and explode from everything that I read in the trades.

Check out this article from the recent Book Expo America and mega-bestselling author, James Patterson. “Patterson (Crazy House, Hachette Audio) opened his presentation with a declaration: “Listening to an audio is reading. A lot of gatekeepers don't buy into that, but I do.” Noting the audiobook “is only scratching the surface of its potential importance and its audience,” he offered a pair of recommendations. “The first suggestion is that some audiobook people have to go out to Silicon Valley. We need to redesign audiobooks so they can be sold at a better price.” He also advocated for offering an irresistible audiobook package, which “could include, just for example, a John Grisham, a Patterson, Hillbilly Elegy, a Wimpy Kid novel, Alan's new book,” to automobile makers at close to cost if they would agree to put it in every new car they sell.” I found this idea interesting and will be watching the publishing world to see if someone takes James Patterson up on such an idea.

If you are wondering about the viability of audiobooks, just look at these recent statistics “In 2016, Audiobook Sales Up 18.2%, Unit Sales Jump 33.9% Audiobook sales in 2016 rose 18.2%, to $2.1 billion, and unit sales jumped 33.9%, according to the Audio Publishers Association's annual sales and consumer studies, conducted respectively by Management Practice and Edison Research. This marks the third year in a row that audiobooks sales have grown by nearly 20%. The APA attributed audio growth to an expanding listening audience: 24% of Americans (more than 67 million people) have completed at least one audiobook in the last year, a 22% increase over the 2015.”

“Among other findings:

• More listeners use smartphones most often to listen to audiobooks than ever before (29% in 2017 vs. 22% in 2015).
• Nearly half (48%) of frequent audiobook listeners are under 35.
• Audiobook listeners read or listened to an average of 15 books in the last year.
• More than a quarter (27% of respondents) said borrowing from a library/library website was very important for discovering new audiobooks.
• A majority of audiobook listening is done at home (57%), followed by in the car (32%).
• 68% of frequent listeners do housework while listening to audiobooks, followed by baking (65%), exercise (56%) and crafting (36%).
• The top three reasons people enjoy listening to audiobooks are: 1) they can do other things while listening; 2) audiobooks are portable so people can listen wherever they are; and 3) they enjoy being read to.
• The most popular genres last year were mysteries/thrillers/suspense, science fiction/fantasy and romance.
• 19% of all listeners used voice-enabled wireless speakers (such as Amazon Echo or Google Home) to listen to an audiobook in the last year, and for frequent listeners, that rises to 30%.”

I hope some of these statistics caught your attention about the importance of audiobooks. Here's several ways you can get involved with audiobooks:

1. Listen to audiobooks on a regular basis. The first way for any of us to get active in an area is as a participant. I have written about audio books in past articles.

2. Use your activity to promote and encourage others to listen to audiobooks. As you complete an audio, book, write a review. If you look at my Goodreads book list, you will see many of these books are audio books.


3. Get active creating audiobooks. If you have no idea where to begin, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Richard Rieman's book, The Author's Guide to AudioBook Creation. This little book will help you learn more about the audio book industry and give you resources for launching your own audio products. If you live in the Denver area, I encourage you to come to the South Denver Chapter meeting of the Nonfiction Authors Association on Wednesday, June 21st. Richard is speaking about audio books. The first meeting is free and you can hear Richard and ask questions.

Are you using and creating audio books? Let me know in the comment section.

Tweetable:

Is your book available in audio? Read this article to take action.  (ClickToTweet)
 

When You Feel Like Giving Up

If we are honest, not every day in publishing is fun. Sometimes it feels like we are on one of those climbing walls and the way forward looks impossible. Yet even in those difficult days, I continue hitting the keyboard and cranking out words and stories. Other days I spend on the phone with authors or answering emails and questions about contracts or other issues.

Yet in the midst of the opportunities or challenges, I continue helping authors create new books through my work as an acquisitions editor. I continue to write for new blogs or magazines and working on my social media and growing my own measure of influence in the marketplace.  I continue the work because I believe in the life-changing effects of books. I know that first hand as I explained in this short video several years ago:


Often we can't see the results of our writing and how it is affecting others. Recently I was listening to actress Lauren Graham's memoir, Talking As Fast As I Can. I enjoyed this story she told about bestselling author James Patterson. Graham was in Atlanta and about to begin filming Middle School, based on the books by Patterson and Chris Tebbetts. At the cast dinner, Graham was seated next to Patterson. She turned and asked him a question that he had probably been asked many times, “How do you do it?”

“He turned to and said, “Keep going, keep going, keep going.”

I found this story encouraging that even  mega-bestselling author like James Patterson has to use this mantra of keep going. Each of face different curve balls along the publishing journey. Maybe your editor leaves the publishing house and you have to work with a different editor. Maybe your publishing house closes or gets sold to another publisher. Maybe you face an unexpected family crisis of health or any number of other situations. The challenges of life are plenty for everyone and enough for some people to throw in the towel and not move forward.

From my experience and listening to numerous stories from bestselling authors, the people who succeed and write their bestseller or find their best publishing opportunity, are the ones who keep going.  Many authors give up too early in the process and do not keep looking for the right publisher at the right time and the right place.

As someone who has been studying about publishing for many years, admittedly there is a lot to learn for every writer. You need to learn how to craft a pitch to an editor or a literary agent. You need to learn how to write excellent stories and then do the long-term work of telling people about your book (marketing).

I love the advice best-selling author Harvey MacKay gave in this recent article called Never Give Up. MacKay gives terrific specific details in this article and then he always has a summary statement that he calls a MacKay Moral: The hardest sale you'll ever make is to yourself.  But once you're convinced you can do it, you can.

When you face the bump in the road of your writing life, I encourage you to keep going.

Tweetable:

As a writer, read this encouragement when you feel like giving up. (ClickToTweet)
 

Seven Insights I Learned About James Patterson

James Patterson is a successful and prolific bestselling author. Whether you've read all of his book or some of his books or none of his books, you can't help but admire his achievements in the world of publishing.

I love reading author profiles about other authors because of what I learn from it. It's one of the reasons I've interviewed and written about more than 150 bestselling authors over the years—I learn a great deal from the experience which I incorporate into my own writing life.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal published the article: James Patterson Tells Us Why His Books Sell Like Crazy by Lauren A.E. Schuker. I hope you will read the entire article. I'm going to pick up on seven insights I learned about James Patterson from this article.

1. The 65–year-old author works seven days a week. I noticed Patterson had been on the golf course that day but he mixes relaxation and work. It's significant to me Patterson works at his craft every day.

2. He is not stuck at a computer but uses paper and pencil. The description of his office notes that Patterson prefers a legal pad and pencil for his work. He is not alone in that habit.

3. Patterson collaborates with other authors. When he explains the writing process, it is clearly collaborative with other writers. He writes the outline then assigns the writer their task. I've noticed his books have many different co-authors yet they sound like they came from the same author. Why? Because…

4. He takes firm control of his storytelling rather than turning it over to a co-author. Yes, Patterson has created a publishing empire but he is firmly at the helm of it and working on the different aspects of his stories.

5. Rewriting is an integral part of the creative process. As he explained, “I'll do any number of outlines or re-writes on the pages. I've done as many as nine drafts of a book after the original comes in.”

6. Patterson has chosen to stay outside of New York and Hollywood. While intimately involved in the publishing world and Hollywood (his movies and TV from his books), he has selected to live in Florida.

7. He has experimented with other types of writing (nonfiction) but sticks with what he does best—fiction. Toward the end of the article, Patterson is asked about other forms of writing like plays or musicals or nonfiction. He has written nonfiction but stays with what works—fiction.

These are my seven insights that I learned about James Patterson. Maybe you picked up on some other details in the article. Which ones?

Look For A Mentor

Throughout my writing and editorial life, I've learned a great deal from many different sources. About twenty years ago, I had no idea how to focus my magazine articles for the marketplace. It was through the patient teaching of a more experienced writer that I learned the skill of crafting a query letter and writing the assigned magazine article. The learning process wasn't easy. Often my manuscript was returned with many editorial marks and I could have grown discouraged and given up. Instead I pressed on and continued writing. It's a lesson I hope you will do as well with your writing--press on in the midst of rejection.

One of the biggest authors in the thriller writer area is James Patterson. I've read several of these books and enjoy Patterson's crisp style and fascinating plots. I've wondered he has been co-authoring some of his books and how that process worked. You can gain a bit of insight from this Soapbox column in the April 30th Publisher's Weekly by Andrew Gross titled, The Patterson School of Writing. I found several fascinating elements of this article. First, his connection to James Patterson came from his publisher talking with his agent. Catch that little detail in this article.

Next look at the different lessons Gross learned as he worked seven years with James Patterson. He gives five specifics (you can read the article for the various lessons) but here's the truth which struck me: "In sum, I learned how to write for one's audience, not the people you want them to be." It's a common flaw in writers. They are writing for themselves and not the audience.

Another key lesson that I've been learning is to focus on the people and the relationships instead of trying to figure out how to speculate what will happen from an income or financial standpoint. Yes, we need to have the financials in mind but it's the relationship which will hopefully continue long into the future. I've had many mentors in my life and I continue to be mentored. I'm grateful for each person who continues to teach me either through a book or an audio program or face to face.