Someone asked me recently if I thought paperback and hardcover books would still be around in ten years. My answer was yes, unless we run out of trees. Physical books are magical to me. Oh, some are trash as soon as they come off the press but so many more are treasures that millions of people enjoy, are inspired by, learn from, and consider to be life-long friends.

Truly one of the challenges of living the nomadic lifestyle I live right now is not having my book friends around me. I love that I can read hundreds of books on my Kindle, but I miss MY copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass with my college sophomore commentary in the margins and I miss MY copy of Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ Women Who Run with the Wolves because I’d like to compare my reading today with my notes from the past.

Still, because I can read digital books, I do.

I read on my Kindle, on my iPhone and iPad and even sometimes on my computer. And, of course, so do most of you, and so do much of the reading public today.

What does that mean for authors and for the publishing industry today? Are physical books going away?

If you’re an author, should you produce your book only as an ebook?

Ingram Books is a company based in Tennessee. They provide book printing and ebook conversion services to publishers and distribution of paper and digital titles to more than 30,000 retailers worldwide. Dudley Court Press uses Ingram to print and distribute many of our titles.

Ingram’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Shawn Morin, was recently quoted in The Tennessean as saying, “We really believe print is going to be here to stay.”

He went on to say, “I’m a big believer that in chaos, there is opportunity,” Morin said. “We are in a position where we can help people be successful in a challenging market.”

Morin was referring to the chaos that exists in the publishing industry today, from the confusion that technological changes bring, to the disruption of the traditional pathways for authors, to the changing reading habits of all groups of audiences for books.

How does an author navigate this chaotic industry?

We here at Dudley Court Press believe that we, too, can help people be successful in a challenging market. We work hard to seek out great partners in every aspect of the publishing and book marketing process so that we can provide what our author-clients need.

We think there is opportunity for authors with important messages to share with the world to get those messages out there – and we’re here to help do that. The exciting aspect to publishing today is that with a clear strategy, a solid message, and plenty of smart implementation, those important messages CAN reach their intended audiences, quickly and cost effectively.

The challenge is devising the right strategy for each book project – and that includes deciding if a book should be a physical book, a digital book, or both. There’s more to the discussion, of course. If we can help you with your strategic planning for your book project, please contact us here.