What would you do if you finally completed your book, only to find that the publishing world is no longer interested in your book? This is a difficulty that many authors have been experiencing recently and the number of affected authors is on the rise. Luckily, if your intention is to send a message, there are other ways of getting the message out other than writing books.

Causes of changes in the industry

Why is the changing industry so important anyway? Book publishing has been undergoing a lot of change and these changes have been accelerated by financial pressures being experienced by most stakeholders. The following are some of the reasons why the industry is changing.

Changing ownerships: many publishing houses are now buying smaller houses to try to cement their position and prepare for future upheavals. Wherever publishers think that there is money to be made is where they are headed. For instance, a boom in book sales in the Christian market caused many Christian publishing houses to be bought by general-market publishers.

Television did not have as large an impact on people’s reading habits as predicted. However, the Internet has certainly proven to be distracting and people no longer have the time they used to have for reading and getting information the old-fashioned way.

The proliferation of portable devices like MP3 players and iPods has also contributed to the decreased reading time that people have now.

The battle for market share

The fight for market share is another thing affecting the publishing industry. One of the things that people must do when they start to lose market share is to work to regain it. Publishers who are losing market share are now doing several things to take back the market share that is slowly being reduced by competition. They have responded to the perceived threat by doing several things:

They are working to reduce risk to the lowest possible levels. One way they are doing this is to avoid books from authors who don’t have strong platforms hence a reduced potential for sales. The effect is that authors who are only famous locally or regionally are being ignored by publishers in favor of those with national appeal.

Publishers are now embracing the ‘print-on-demand’ model to reduce cost. They are also starting to make their books available for iPad, Kindle, and other e-readers that will enable them to gain market share in the digital space.

Adapting to publishing realities

If your main aim of publishing a book is to get a message out there, you can quickly adapt your mentality to come to terms with the reality of the modern publishing industry. You will realize that print books are not the only way to get your message out. There are two main alternatives.

The first option is to change from writing books to writing articles. Print media is not dead, however, and if you know how to write and market articles, you still have available options. Editors for print media attend many writing conferences and you can approach them and find out if what you have to offer is what they are looking for.

You can also publish articles on the Internet. Although you won’t get as much money as you would for print media, you will be happy to finally get your message out there.