Do books still matter in 2019?
This question came to my mind through a conversation I was having with colleagues at work. A few of us were discussing our favourite series of books to read, and how amazing the authors were in their ability to captivate our minds with their storytelling capabilities.
We discussed everything from the literature of fantasy books, horror, sci-fi and fascinating of characters who are capable of travelling to alternate universes from authors such as Stephen King, Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and many more.
Of course, as the discussion progressed some individuals in the group found it hard to follow along. Some didn't see reading as an exciting recreational event, especially if the story was fantasy; it was neither interesting nor relevant to them (my sister would fall in this camp as well). Some admitted to their lost desire to read due to technology and the fact that they simply found their cellphone and iPad more interesting.
Are the sudden influx of technological devices, social media, and content we receive daily taking away the need, the desire, the ability or even our mental capacity to accept and process the extended form information given to us in a book?
Recently I was listening to a podcast by one of my favourite social media coaches and influencers Alex Beadon, who was interviewing Ash Ambirge (CEO and Founder of the Middle Finger Project) (I know it's a scandalous name).
Ash's business name is so scandalous that she is banned from Twitter. She often cannot successfully use social media ads because they usually get taken down based on her company name. The website content was a lot less scandalous than I expected, and she mainly discussed teaching women to trust themselves rather than follow the status quo in their career paths (I have read more scandalous comments from Gary V.).
She talked about how social media outlet restrictions forced her to reach people through her writing. First in writing her blogs, and second in writing and self- publishing her book which she pre-sold for $2000, and helped her to created a six-figure business.
She discussed how she had to sit down and think about why people read. She says, " When you think about why a writer and reader come together the answer is not because we want advice and all that stuff that's when you google things...when you are reading someone's words consciously, and fully it is about pleasure."
Well if it is about pleasure, we already have many research studies that reveal a link between dopamine hits and social media activity which you can see in more detail in this article by Harvard University, so maybe that need is already being fulfilled. In an article by the Huffington Post they present data that suggests social media rapidly replacing books for teenagers as a form of entertainment. We are even told video content is the next big thing by Entrepreneur.
There was an article in the New Yorker discussing reading patterns between genders, races, and different socio-economic groups have been on a steady decline since 2003 for multiple factors in the past decade.
Are books still relevant to our society in the digital age? Is it just that the format of the content that has changed?
If you check the Amazon books charts for most sold books this week, as I am typing this blog, are the #1 Most Sold book is The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman and #2 is Bennett Mafia by Tijan Meyer, a self-published author.
Today there are more than seven million self-published books on the Amazon Kindle Store. With self-publishing, the onus on the authors more now than ever to use social media effectively to promote their work.
In an article by Forbes they interview David Gaughran author of Let's Get Digital, who discussed this matter.
In relation to his own book sales success says, " You can get 3,000 sales in a day with the right ad."
This connection between a social media audience and their influencers can be seen with YouTube Influencers. They typically appeal to the age bracket between 13-24, a bracket that is heavily preoccupied with social media content. Several surveys indicate these figures are more trusted by Millenials than celebrities in their recommendations.
On Good Reads, there are at least 368 titles of listed books authored by top YouTubers such as Lily Singh.
Lilly Singh is one of the biggest YouTube creators, with 16 million subscribers between her channels and she earns 8 million dollars a year from her content creation. When she decided to write her book, How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life, not only was she offered a lucrative advance for her book, she became a New York Times Best Seller.
It seems that her comedic videos brought a sense of pleasure to her audience, and the transition of that video audience to a book audience was almost seamless, even though the nature of her book was a more serious autobiography about her process through life (Penguin Random House, 2018).
I believe there are so many benefits to reading novels, such as education, getting a more in-depth background on characters in a story and the story itself. Whether it's fiction or non-fiction, you learn to be imaginative on your own rather than be on visual representation to create the image for you.
I find it brings a form of relaxation and quiet in a very visually stimulating and noisy world. Unlike electronics, reading paper novels before bed helps you to sleep.
With all different forms of content emerging, it makes you wonder what the future of storytelling will be if we suddenly had to a world without novels.
The emerging author needs to be innovative and willing to serve potential readers not only with their complete works but with short entertaining and compelling free content, such a short blog, video post or post. Giving the audience a taste of they have to offer, because if they trust you with a little, they will trust you with a lot.
Fiyin Obayan
is the CEO & Creative Director of Okiki Consulting- we have services in Branding, Marketing, Graphic Design, Content Creation & Social Media Marketing. www.okikiconsulting.com
Do you like to read novels? If so what are you currently reading? Let me know it the comments below!