Our 2014 Prediction: The Future Looks Bright

At a writer’s conference recently, I gave a presentation highlighting some forthcoming holiday and winter books. I titled the talk “A Sneak Peek at Next Year’s Bestsellers.” When I opened my PowerPoint and the first slide appeared onscreen with this title, a woman in the audience smiled and asked: “Have you consulted an oracle?”

Ah, if only. If only we had an oracle to tell us which books would most appeal to readers. If only we had a crystal ball to guide us in which new technology to invest, and to tell us which inventions and new systems will endure and best facilitate progress.

Since we don’t have an oracle, we must put our best judgment to work, informed by our experience, our knowledge of trends and patterns current and past, and supplemented by reading, researching, talking to experts, and a dash of instinct for good measure. That’s the mix we use to determine what course we will follow in our publishing decisions. We do our best, and then we hope that we have chosen wisely.

In this, our year-end tips & trends issue, we do our best to provide you with information and guidance that will help you chart your course into 2014. We’ve drawn on experience and knowledge of the market, talked to numerous experts, and hereby serve it all up for your edification!

In our Corner Office interview, Paul Belfanti, director of content architecture at Pearson, describes how the company is moving toward open EPUB standards that will enable the industry as a whole to streamline the process of creating electronic publications. In a story called “Building a Social Hive” a range of publishers and social media experts tell you how to turn your tweets and posts into a thriving customer base. Our story on direct to consumer sales provides advice on how to successfully approach this distribution channel, one that is rapidly expanding and will continue to grow in importance.