“Readers are tired of big brands pretending to be human, pretending to care.”

2020 was an extraordinary year, with many personal challenges for authors, but all the indications are that it was a bumper year for sales of author-published books. Distributor PublishDrive noted a 58% increase in booksales in October 2020 compared to the same month in 2019. Some authors found lockdown led to inspiration,with fewer distractions and less travel giving them more time for writing and publishing. Others had less time due to caring for dependants. Still others had a hard time focusing, and found the turbulence and constraints destabilising.

The year was also notable because of technological advances that are making the writing, publishing and marketing of books ever easier and increasing distribution options for selfpublished authors around the world. And the Covid crisis accelerated trends that were new to other parts of the book business, eg digital bookselling, online events, but already long established practice for indie authors.

As things hopefully ease in 2021, consumers will seek out more mindful and personalised shopping experiences, online and off. Readers, the most thoughtful and mindful consumers, are at the forefront of a band of mindful buyers who are tired of big brands pretending to be human, pretending to care. Independent authors who really are human, who really do care, will source and take such readers with them into their publishing adventures – through patronage, crowdfunding, premium products and other ways, in addition to making and selling books.

So overall, book sales are up and in a year of unprecendented difficulty, self-publishing has proven itself not just to be resilient but ahead of the curve and we expect that to continue in 2021