Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1 | Page 42

News
A D ECADE O F C HANGES I N B OOK P UBLISHING
This recap is based upon the article “2009 to 2019: A Decade of Changes in Book
Publishing” BY PHIL STAMPER-HALPIN|SEPTEMBER, 2019 Click the link to read the full
article,
L OOKING B ACK
T
he decade from 2009 to 2019 in book
publishing was a fascinating time for
readers, retailers, authors, and
publishers alike. The rise of digital, the
self-publishing boom, and significant
competition from other media products
all changed the landscape of the industry.
Even though publishers would love to
see every format increase and every book
succeed, this is an industry of constant
change. Articles call out the death of
reading and the demise of book
publishing—articles date back to the
advent of television or video games—but
this decade has shown that regardless of
W INTER 2020
the obstacles, the need for and the love of
reading don’t seem to be going away
anytime soon.
2009: W HAT WERE THE CHALLENGES ?
A large challenge for publishers, in
2009 was increased competition for
authors. With the advent of new tools for
self-publishing and an increase of new
nontraditional publishers, the industry
was challenged to communicate the
benefits of traditional publishing. The
idea that “anyone can publish with the
press of a button” was widespread, but
what was the difference between
traditional and self-publishing? Amazon
and the like threatened the future of
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W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE