018 Tribe Building and Trends in Publishing

Where is publishing headed, and what are the trends industry professionals are seeing? And how can authors build a tribe of fans? I asked Alice Crider who’s an international speaker and the Editorial Director at the publisher David C. Cook.

What are some of the trends you’re seeing in Christian publishing right now?

Alice: The biggest trend is the increase in indie or self-publishing among Christian authors. I recently saw an article in Publishers Weekly noting how many Christian authors are ramping up with self-publishing. It makes sense. With so many books being published each year, traditional publishers have to be highly selective. Self-publishing offers an alternative path, and some authors are really succeeding with it.

Thomas: We had an episode with Alex from K-lytics, who does in-depth data analysis on the Kindle Store. The top three or four best-selling fiction authors on Kindle are now independent. What’s interesting is that Kindle e-book sales are still growing, and almost all that growth is happening in the indie market. Traditional publishing is flat, but overall growth continues. The indie slice of the pie keeps expanding, which means it’s a great time to be in publishing.

Alice: It really is. There’s never been an easier time to publish. Traditional publishers used to be the gatekeepers, but now anyone can publish a book. The hard part isn’t getting published anymore; it’s finding readers.

How can authors attract and keep readers?

Thomas: Just because your book exists doesn’t mean anyone is reading it. Even sales don’t guarantee readers. You have to sell your book twice: once when they buy it and again when they decide to read it. Think about how many books you’ve bought but never opened. The same thing happens with your readers.

Alice: You have to capture readers’ attention within the first few paragraphs. If they set it down, you haven’t really sold them the book. Your goal as an author should be for them to finish it, get real value from it, and then share it with others.

Are authors moving between indie and traditional publishing?

Thomas: With this growth in indie publishing, do you see authors moving between traditional and indie publishing?

Alice: I’ve seen some of that, but it’s not always easy. Indie authors might be thrilled to sell a few thousand copies, but traditional publishers need sales in the tens of thousands to justify the investment. Doing well independently can help you, but poor sales can actually hurt your chances of finding a traditional publisher. If your indie book doesn’t sell well, publishers may assume you don’t know how to market a book, which makes it hard for them to take a risk on your next one.

Thomas: Five thousand indie sales might mean $25,000 in royalties. If you write a few books a year, that’s a solid income. But for a traditionally published author, those same 5,000 copies would bring in a fraction of that amount. Indie publishing makes sense for smaller sales.

Traditional publishing shines when you reach 100,000 units or more. At that level, you need a team of people who can negotiate with Walmart, manage large distribution, and handle literal tons of books.

Alice: I worked with an author who sold 50,000 self-published copies but couldn’t keep up with distribution. We picked up his book and sold another 50,000 copies.

It really comes down to quality. Since anyone can publish now, a lot of books out there aren’t very good. If you choose to indie publish, write well, get a solid editor, fact-check, and make sure your book looks professional. Traditional publishers handle all those details, but indie authors need to find the right help or learn to do it themselves. Readers today have many choices and are very selective.

Amazon releases a new book about every five minutes. With millions of titles, competition is fierce. Another major shift is that brick-and-mortar Christian bookstores are disappearing. More people now shop online on Amazon or through Christian Book Distributors. If a book isn’t well done, it’s quickly overlooked.

How has the decline of Christian bookstores changed the industry?

Thomas: The decline of Christian bookstores is a big trend. Family Christian Stores closed, and Lifeway has reduced its locations. While Amazon plays a role, there’s another factor: local churches. Many large churches have built their own bookstores, often connected to a coffee shop. Most churches are small, so they don’t have bookstores, but mega churches usually have a mini bookstore curated by church leadership. Every title has the pastor’s seal of approval, which gives readers confidence. For example, a Baptist might not normally read a Catholic author, but if the pastor recommends it, that endorsement carries weight. I think that shift has had a major impact. Are you seeing that too?

Alice: Yes, absolutely. From the traditional publishing side, it’s hard to get books into church bookstores because selections are made by pastors or church staff. They stock titles that reflect their congregation’s theology. These stores aren’t like Walmart or Barnes & Noble with broad selections. They have limited space and focus on specific themes. Even in my own church’s bookstore, I rarely see indie titles. That’s where many Christians shop, and it definitely shapes which books succeed.

How can authors get their books into church bookstores?

Thomas: If you want to get your book into church bookstores, it’s all about relationships. Your pastor is the next phone call to make because pastors really do look after and talk to one another.

I remember doing a book launch for a client who was a pastor of a megachurch. Our entire strategy focused on getting his pastor friends from other large, independent churches to send out emails to their congregations. By 10 a.m. on launch day, Amazon was sold out. The success came entirely from those pastors recommending the book to their people.

There’s no shortcut to that. It’s about knowing the influencers who can make introductions. Some denominational publishing houses function almost like indie houses. Within those networks, you’ll see two or three authors you’ve never heard of selling hundreds of thousands of books, specifically within that denomination or group of churches.

What other trends are shaping Christian publishing?

Alice: One of the biggest and most encouraging trends is the rise of audiobooks. It used to be that maybe one or two of our titles each year would get picked up by an audio publisher. Now, almost every title we publish is being sublicensed for audio. Even indie authors are saying, “My audiobook is outselling my print book.”

People are busy, and audiobooks fit their lifestyles. You can listen while driving, washing dishes, or doing laundry. You can pause when interrupted and pick up right where you left off. Audiobooks make reading more accessible, and that benefits both readers and authors.

Why are audiobooks growing so fast?

Thomas: Audiobooks have finally come out of their awkward adolescence. CDs were a terrible format because they didn’t hold your place, they were expensive, and they wore out quickly. Digital changed everything. Cars now connect seamlessly to phones, so listening is easier than ever.

Smart speakers have also accelerated growth. Just like the Kindle changed how people read, smart speakers are changing how people listen. Growth in that space is something like 2,500% over the last five years. One in four kitchens now has an Echo or Google Home. And with a simple voice command, you can play an audiobook performed by a real narrator, not a robot.

On the production side, the cost of creating audiobooks has collapsed. A home studio that once cost $50,000 can now be set up for around $500. That’s led to an explosion of narrators, many of them actors, who can record from home. Audible and other platforms have also made it easier for indie authors to connect with narrators and produce professional audiobooks.

Learn more about audiobooks in the following episodes:

Audiobook Production and Promotion with Brennan McPherson

How to Write & Narrate Better Audiobooks with Tom Parks

The Future of Audiobooks and Podcasting

Does David C. Cook produce its own audiobooks, or do you still license them out?

Alice: We’re about to start producing them in-house because it’s become so much easier and less expensive. We plan to fly our authors in to record their books, unless their voice isn’t the right fit. When we sublicense, authors usually get to audition and choose between a couple of narrators. That’s important because authors care deeply about how their book sounds in audio form.

Why does narration choice matter so much?

Thomas: Sometimes listeners fall in love with a narrator, especially in fiction. Change that narrator, and you risk a riot. I remember Audible once changed narrators for a Dresden Files book after ten or eleven titles with the same guy. Fans were furious. Audible ended up rerecording the book with the original narrator and released both versions as an apology.

That kind of loyalty is less common in nonfiction. Nonfiction listeners often prefer hearing the author read the book, especially when it includes personal stories or memoir elements. Fiction, on the other hand, requires professional narrators to handle different voices, characters, and accents.

Alice: Yes, that makes sense. Fiction narration is a lot like movie acting, much more so than nonfiction.

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Links:

Sponsor

Course of the Week The SMART Self-Publishing Bundle