So as we all know eBooks are selling like crazy. Right now as we can read ebooks on multiple formats, on multiple devices, and save money, it's not surprising. These eBook sales also bring up the usual question of what happens to print media (you know the one that comes up every few months)
As much as I love my Kindle and eBooks, I admit part of me wonders about the role permanence of the printed word. A book can last. A book can be read without a battery charger or a when locked out of an account. A book is a record without strings attached.
So I'd like to postulate something that both sells more physical books and helps people appreciate them – something that may help you authors out there get your hard copies into people's hands.
What if print books – hard or softcover – made the issue of their historical, physical, long-lasting nature part of their content and sales pitch?
Why not pitch a book as something to buy for the ages? That would help sell a book of philosophy, analysis, or that is a (hopeful) classic.
Why not make sure the book is designed to endure – and make that part of the selling point? That would help with books on history, survival, and so on.
Why not add historical elements to the book -perhaps ONLY the physical copy has extra commentary (changed once a year), makings-of, etc. That makes a book a living and historical thing.
If we're going to worry about leaving a historical legacy of fiction, let's consider working that into our sales, publishing, and planning. Let's make it part of the campaign.
Let's use historical endurance as a sales tool.