Five reasons why 2017 is the year to publish your book

As 2017 enters full swing, iUniverse presents 5 reasons why this year is the year to turn your manuscript into a published book.

One: After a year of political strife, social disorder, and generally unfavorable news, people (i.e. readers) are looking for opportunities to escape. They are exhausted with hearing about politics, Brexit, and problems in the Middle East. Publishing a book which provides an outlet means giving the public what it wants.

Two: Self-published books continue to gain significant ground in the e-book market: According to Author Earnings, the Big Five Publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster) now account for less than a quarter of all e-book purchases on Amazon.

Three: The Big 5 publishers are also losing ground in the print book market: As of January 2016,  less than 50% of unit sales of print bestsellers were published by a Big Five Publisher (Author Earnings).

Four: Self-published books are getting more attention from Hollywood. In 2016 alone, four iUniverse titles received shopping agreements or were optioned by production houses:

• James Reston Jr.’s The Innocence of Joan Little: A Southern Mystery was optioned by Paulist Productions (read more here)
• Reuben Sparks, One Cowrie Shell, in shopping agreement with Legion of Creatives
• Donna Ward’s Alias Island, in shopping agreement with Five More Minutes
• Philippa Levine’s Tweeker Parade, also in shopping agreement with Five More Minutes

Five: Lastly, remember that life is short: The passing away of so many high-profile people in 2016 – including David Bowie, Prince, and most recently George Michael — serves to highlight that we don’t know how much time we really have on this planet to get our message out for people to see. Time is never on your side. If you want to publish that manuscript, give yourself a two-month maximum to finish editing it — check out our article on which stalling techniques to avoid!

Let us help you enter the ranks of published author. We do it every day. Give us a call at 1-800-AUTHORS (288-4677). For a FREE Publishing Guide, click here!