Book publishing continues to evolve and while that is good, it is also important to answer the question: what are the current book publishing trends? There are a lot and they can vary as time passes, but below are some trends that are worth taking into consideration.

Big Publishers: First on our list is the possible push for traditional publishers to lower their prices. Big publishers have been stubborn in trying to keep their prices the same, even with eBooks. That should not be the case because eBooks do away with the shipping, printing and other fees so they should be at a lower price compared to their paperback counterpart. Big publishers wanted to maintain the higher eBook prices because they feared that the lower priced eBooks would eat into print sales and harm their profitability.

Self-publishers: Self-published authors, on the other hand, started lowering their prices and readily exploited the unwavering price stance of big publishers. This is the reason why self-published books are far outselling and out-competing big publishers. For the most part of 2013, it wasn’t uncommon to see self-published authors listed among the major retailers’ top 10 bestsellers. Big publishers have finally taken notice and will most likely look to price their eBooks more competitively against those from self-published authors.

Pricing Promotions: Next on the list of current book publishing trend predictions is that price promotions will become less and less effective. Since there will be a big push from traditional publishers to lower their pricing, that will mean a lot more supplies of affordable books. Since the pricing field will be leveled, other options that don’t relate to pricing will increase in importance.

The eBook Growth: Another item on the current book publishing trends list is the slowing down of growth of eBooks. It's evident that eBooks have been on a roll as soon as they burst out of the publishing gates. These eBooks have had exponential growth but are finally reaching a plateau. Growth of 100 to 300 percent from year to year cannot continue forever.

Competition: In the future, even more competition is expected in book publishing. Hundreds of thousands of new books are published annually. These books swell up retailer catalogs as they carry millions of eBook titles. It should come as no surprise that competition will increase. Since prices are going to even out, competition will be all the fiercer. This change puts the big publishers back in the running and evens out the competition a bit against self-published authors. The upper hand that self-published authors hold though is that they are able to market their books faster; they have greater creative freedom and build closer relationships with their readers, giving them a better understanding of their readers' desires.

It will be good to keep in mind all of these current book publishing trends. The biggest winner with the leveling out of prices is the consumer as more and more options are going to become available to them, all at a lower price.