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2024 Book Publishing Trends and Promotion

Book publishing trends are constantly evolving as technology, consumer preferences, and market forces influence the industry. Based on the web search results from Bing, some of the latest book publishing trends for 2024 are:

  • Quality becomes more important than ever: As artificial intelligence and other tools make it easier to produce and distribute content, readers will become more selective and demanding of quality. Authors will need to focus on editing, story structure, and other elements that make a book stand out¹.
  • Authors build their brands and communities: Authors will need to establish their online presence and engage with their fans and readers through social media, newsletters, podcasts, and other platforms. Building a loyal and supportive community will help authors increase their visibility and sales¹.
  • Promo stacking becomes the standard: Promo stacking is the strategy of using multiple book promotion services and platforms to reach a large and diverse audience. Authors will need to plan and execute effective promo stacking campaigns to boost their rankings, reviews, and revenue¹.
  • Artificial intelligence is embraced for book marketing: AI technology will offer new and innovative ways for authors to market their books, such as personalized ads, chatbots, voice assistants, and content generation. AI will also help authors analyze data and optimize their strategies³.
  • The TikTok ad market matures: TikTok will continue to be a powerful platform for book discovery and recommendation, especially for young adult, romance, and fantasy genres. However, as the ad market becomes more saturated and competitive, authors will need to be more creative and strategic in their TikTok campaigns².
  • Romance subgenres rise in popularity: Romance will remain one of the most popular and profitable genres in 2024, but with more diversity and specificity. Romantasy, or the fusion of romance and fantasy, will be a hot trend, as well as romantic comedy, speculative romance, and time travel romance².Books on a bookshelf
  • All things cozy: After the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be a higher demand for cozy and comforting books, such as cozy mysteries, cozy historical fiction, and cozy fantasy. These books will offer readers an escape from the stress and uncertainty of the real world².
  • Subscription models gain popularity: Subscription services, such as Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, and Audible, will attract more readers who want to access a large and varied catalog of books for a fixed monthly fee. Authors will need to consider the pros and cons of enrolling their books in these services, such as exclusivity, royalties, and discoverability⁴.
  • Copyright and fraud protection become more important: As the publishing industry becomes more digital and decentralized, there will be more risks of piracy, plagiarism, and fraud. Authors will need to protect their intellectual property and reputation by using tools and services that can detect and prevent these issues¹.
  • Publishing continues to see consolidation: The publishing industry will witness more mergers and acquisitions, as well as more partnerships and collaborations, among publishers, distributors, retailers, and other players. This will create more opportunities and challenges for authors, who will need to navigate the changing landscape and find the best partners for their goals⁴.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 1/11/2024
(1) The Top 10 Publishing Trends for 2024 – Written Word Media.
(2) Book Trends 2024: The 5 Top Genres, Trends, and Changes – BOOK RIOT.
(3) The New Era Of Brand Building: Why Published Books Are The Tool Of …. 
(4) Book Trends to Look for in Publishing in 2024 | Blurb Blog.

 

Civil war cannon during a sunset

Just Published – Battlegrounds – Book 1 of 4 of the Matari Series

Our newest title just published

Save $6 if you order from our bookstore

Also available on Amazon in Kindle and print versions

Battlegrounds - Book 1 of 4 of the Matari Series

 

Author Paul Gonnella

Former coach reveals rip-off scheme in college and semi-pro sports

We interviewed Paul Gonnella, fondly referred to as Coach G, regarding his new book, PAID,  about the scheme that has ripped off thousands of college football and men’s basketball players for years.

PAID  is available on Amazon and the Kindle and in fine bookstores everywhere.

1. What inspired you to write PAID?

After abruptly resigning and retiring from college football in 2020, after almost 2 decades of service, I felt it was my duty, to be honest, to watch out for those who have no power or voice.

Paul Gonnella's book, PAID

PAID by Paul Gonnella

2. What are the most important, relevant issue(s)?

The most important relevant issues are:

  • The state and federal laws are designed by nature to take away the rights of the players.
  • No oversight or accountability for the NCAA, D1A college conferences, college presidents/athletic directors & coaches.
  • The players not being allowed to unionize.
  • The unfair, competitive advantage the big school has.

 


3. What and how do you think will change with the publication of PAID?

I am hoping it starts a conversation that eventually will lead to change at the foundational level of revenue-making sports.

4. How will sports change as we know it if there are changes?

The sports of FBS college football/men’s basketball will be a better product for public consumption.  Not much else will change in terms of the game.  The changes I suggest in the book will dissolve the system of the mess it is in right now.

5. Are you thinking about writing a sequel to PAID or a second book?

I have not determined if I will write another book as of yet. 

6. Is there anything you would like to add to this interview?

The only way change will occur is if the past players, current players, future players, all their family and friends, and the fans join together to create change.  This movement will take a village to create change due to the amount of money and power the schemers have.

 

Annette Creswell wins Literary Titan Book Award

Outer Banks Publishing Group author Annette Creswell was recently awarded the Literary Titan Book Award for her novel, The Lodgers. Here is the email from the organization.

Author Annette Creswell

Author Annette Creswell

We are proud to present you with our Literary Titan Book Award. Your book was recently reviewed through our Book Review Service, with that service your book is entered into our Literary Book Award competition. Your book deserves extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge your hard work, dedication, and writing talent. Start telling the world that you’re an award winning author, because we will be!

 

The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.

Literary Titan Silver Book Award

About Literary Titan

The Literary Titan is an organization of professional editors, writers, and professors that have a passion for the written word. We review fiction and non-fiction books in many different genres, as well as conduct author interviews, and recognize talented authors with our Literary Book Award. We are privileged to work with so many creative authors around the globe.

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Annette Creswell is also the author of The Dark Before the Dawn.

Koos Verkaik with his newest novel, Jester

Author Koos Verkaik is fascinated with Teutonic mythology because…

“It is about the origin of everything – rituals, habits, sagas, stories; where does it all come from, how did it start? I live on the old ground here in The Netherlands, the Germanic tribes were here, the Celts, the Romans.”

Read the fascinating and inspiring interview with Koos and how his urban fantasy books relate to modern times.

By William Robinson

Koos Verkaik may be one of the most prolific writers you’ve never heard of. A citizen of the Netherlands, he has been published in one format or another, starting with his comic strip, Scotty Clay at the age of sixteen. His latest work explores a topic that has crossed many a mind, especially recently, what if corporations truly took over the world. I was given the opportunity to conduct an interview via email with Mr. Verkaik, and because it is all written word, this interview captures his unique style.

Looking at the novels that are available on Amazon you have written, I have noticed a couple of ongoing themes. And I am curious why the jester is such an important symbol for you?

As a kid, I was confronted with the stories of a mythic figure in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany; Tijl Uilenspiegel. A fantastic medieval jester. The figure intrigued me, scared me, and inspired me.

A (court) jester can say and do as he pleases without getting punished.

When I write novels, I feel like a jester myself – I can tell what I want. You can read my books as pure entertainment – magic, mystery, and adventure – but when you are able to read between the lines, you will also understand my opinion about life, about the Big Questions.

In a recent essay about me, historian Max Moragie wrote:

“Anyone who has read or reread a novel by Koos Verkaik (I am now re-reading it for the second time) has enjoyed a story that continues to fascinate and surprise, even if you know the outcome, but is also encouraged to muse about the essence of existence. A pulp writer doesn’t make you think like that, sometimes a literary author, but apparently a Verkaik always does.”

Koos Verkaik's Urban Fantasy novelsWhat fascinates you so much about Teutonic mythology that you incorporated it into several of your urban fantasy novels?

It is about the origin of everything – rituals, habits, sagas, stories; where does it all come from, how did it start? I live on the old ground here in The Netherlands, the Germanic tribes were here, the Celts, the Romans.

In my novel All-Father, I write about Wodan (Odin) riding the skies with his Army of the Dead. Men covered their faces with soot and got themselves into a trance; that way they joined the Army of the Dead and followed Wodan.

These men also roamed the villages and had ‘the right to steal’; they went into the houses and took things away, like a piece of bread, some fruit, or some beer – this was the origin of the jester! The man with the fool’s cap and the bells who can go as he pleases.

It is our entire history that fascinates me.

In my novels, I write a lot about our past, but also about our future. Like in my novel Nicolaes Nimbus:

“Scientists and wealthy owners of high-tech companies have pumped millions of dollars into the search for immortality. But does the future look bright or is there disaster waiting behind the horizon of time? The world is getting more complicated by the day, but who’s actually in charge?

A group of scientists in Germany has unmasked a cheating visionary. An intriguing phenomenon from the past turns up. Who is Nicolaes Nimbus? Is he an immortal man of flesh and blood from our ancient past? The hunt is on! The secret is priceless! Who is in control, the scientists or the mystic? The novel embraces modern developments… and warns against ancient magic that never dies, waiting for the right time to manifest itself.”

Read the rest here>

 

Seeking Samuel Novel on the beach

Celebrate Labor Day with a book and a beer at the beach

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Get one our best-selling books in many popular genres and get some BBB – a book, a beer, and the beach

The Lodgers Audio book

Hear an excerpt from the novel, The Lodgers

When Mabel, a former Vaudeville performer, lands a job managing a boarding house on the ocean, she appears to attract a disparate cast of lodgers, all with unfortunate and dark lives.

When Therese moves to the Outback to get married, Judy follows and one day Judy spots a Kookaburra in a nearby tree. When the bird laughs, an unexpected, wondrous miracle happens.

The lodgers include:

  • Two queens, old thespian friends of Mabel’s who live in the basement with a peppercorn rent.
  • Therese, a pregnant Irish girl banished to England by her mother who assumes she is in an unmarried mothers’ home in the care of the nuns.
  • Irene, a recovering alcoholic who has a sister Judy who, due to a trauma experienced during the war is unable to speak.
  • Arthur, an aged army major, had a son Ned who was shot for desertion.
  • Harry, alias Percy, a con man and felon who befriends the landlady, Mabel.

 

Podcast announcement for Koos Verkaik

Listen to an excerpt from Nicolaes Nimbus, a thriller about the search for immortality

Outer Banks Publishing Group author Koos Verkaik is one of the most prolific writers I know. – the Publisher

With over 60 books published in both Dutch and English ranging from children’s books to paranormal mysteries to sci fi dramas, Koos is literally a non-stop writer.

Take a few moments to listen to Koos talk and read parts of his best seller, Nicolaes Nimbus with an introduction by Ursula Williams, a blogger, author and podcast creator.

I decided to become an author when I was in still high school and more or less filled the school magazine with my stories. But I started to write stories much early at the age of seven.  I was the youngest published comic writer at the age of 16 when I published three pages every week in a comic magazine. Two years later, when I was only 18, I wrote my first novel (a sci-fi), and it got published immediately. I still remember the day I saw my book in a bookshop window and realized that I actually had become a novelist.” – Koos Verkaik

See more Koos Verkaik’s books in our bookstore.

A happy reader in Detroit

A happy reader from Detroit sent in this photo

 

 

Bob Irelan's novel, Justifiable

Justifiable is a book you can’t put down

Read the review from Novelist Ron Rhody, an Outer Banks Publishing Group author with 8 books published.

I finished Justifiable last night. It is a remarkably good book.
I started it when it arrived day-before-yesterday. Opened it after dinner to see what it was all about. Read a few chapters to get the drift of the story, then, because I had other things to do—calls to make and return, a meeting to attend, try to get in a little work on a novel of my own that I have underway—put it down to return to tonight.

And couldn’t put it down again.

I had no intention of reading the whole thing, but as I got into it the urge to know what happens next was so great I had to keep going.
The police-procedural structure of the book is masterful.
It puts you in the action and makes you feel almost a part of the team.

The “story” part is even better.

A villain of utter contempt found naked and dead floating in a river with a bullet in his head and every one of the 200 or so people who live in the town he’s destroyed the likely killer sets up a tantalizing mystery. And the plot twists you throw in as the story unravels keeps the reader, or at least kept me, constantly guessing which of the three most likely suspects does the admirable deed.

The characters are deftly drawn, especially Ella Mae, and the bits of humor dropped in help move the story along delightfully.

It is a really fine read, Bob—a very welcome diversion from the miasma of political, and viral, and social, and environmental pollution we’re wading through now.

Way to go.

 

 

James, Alice, Andrea on Crete, August 2016

Join us for an online Author Chat with Alice Joyner Irby, author of South Toward Home

Mark your calendars on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, at 7 pm EST for a fascinating hour and a half with Alice and friends.

Register below

Cover of South Toward Home

Publisher’s Note

When I first met Alice Joyner Irby, I knew she had an extraordinary story to tell about her life, her family, and the people who crossed her path.

As she finished each chapter over a little less than a year, I knew her extraordinary book was being created. And now it is here as South Toward Home.

Why Alice wrote this book.

“I want others to get to know the characters in my stories, for they are among the good-hearted, strong, independent people who helped make the 20th century the American century.”

Here is a brief synopsis of South Toward Home.

Catch the marvelous imagery in the reading of South Toward Home. Find yourself carried into bygone eras. You will actually encounter stories that span more than eight decades. Experience those remembrances if you have lived through some of these times!

Travel with author Alice Joyner Irby in her journey during periods of turbulent cultural and societal change. She reports her attempts to shatter glass ceilings confronting women in the workplace…her

Alice and Glenn Dickens - 2019

Alice and Glenn Dickens – 2019

role in integrating a university…her participation in the creation of the Job Corps in LBJ’s War on Poverty. Yet, Alice’s roots remain grounded in the South, where she was nurtured and raised in a loving community.

In her twenty-six stories, we come to know well this fun-loving young girl and those who shaped the woman she has become. A single mother with a daughter, the author expresses the bond between

the two. This is a relationship strengthened over time and deepened through their shared experiences. This book is a rare combination of intimate personal portraits coupled with a pragmatic look at the life surrounding them. 

It is a book written for family about family, blood or not. Crises and joys…stress and well-being…harsh realities and great kindnesses…above all, Hope!

We, as readers, are drawn into the stories. We have known the folks encountered on these pages, maybe not personally; but these accounts cause us to reminisce about those who have poured into us the life-giving renewal that enables us to meet challenges, to celebrate life with all it brings, and to look up in faithfulness that endures. – Mary W., reader

 

 

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