The book industry is in the midst of what can only be described as 'unprecedented' change (how often are we hearing that word spoken in the media at the moment?) The coming weeks, months and years are likely to see new practices being adopted as we all adapt (or not as the case may be) to the new territory we find ourselves in when it comes to writing, publishing and selling books.
In advance of any major change being implemented, we first need to shift our mindset from what we are used to, and what we expect, towards what is required in order to succeed in the contemporary marketplace.
One topic which has recently been placed on the agenda by the forward-thinking publisher at The Friday Project, Scott Pack (formerly of Waterstones), is to 'generate excitement' around selling books.
In an opinion published in the Bookseller trade magazine, Pack explains how he recently came across a queue of excited people in Leicester Square, London, waiting in line for free ice-cream.
This was one of the annual promotions from Ben & Jerry's ice cream stores, who give away 1,000,000 ice creams once a year to tie in with the launch of a new initiative.
Now he's not necessarily suggesting that shops give books away to create a similar kind of buzz around books.
But he is making a very important point which booksellers, publishers and authors all need to take on board...
In order for books to reach the hands of as many readers as possible, we do need to create excitement to encourage people to engage with what the book is offering.
Mindset Shift OK, so this is not exactly new as a concept.
However, what is different now is that we need to shift our mindset to embrace new ways of attracting the attention of our audience when so many people are simply overloaded with information and have an extremely limited attention span.
The message here is about being open and willing to explore new possibilities which may require radical thinking.
Giving away some quality information for free as a 'taster' is a concept which can be seen as a double-edged sword in our digital age but it is an idea which works when handled correctly.
By that I mean with full respect and remuneration ultimately being given to the originator of any creative work.
Whether this particular idea is one which resonates with you or not, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all authors to take up the challenge of being ever more inventive with ideas for generating excitement for each and every book published.
For some authors, the mindset shift relates to understanding that you can harness the creative energy you pour into writing your book and focus it on creating excitement around your book being available to purchase.
Increasingly, authors are being called to do just that, and many are now seeing this as part of the creative process rather than as something separate to it.
In my view, these are the authors who will truly succeed in the marketplace today and tomorrow.