Have you read the blog Tim Ferriss wrote that has caused an uproar in the author, book, and publishing world?

Tim shared that sales of his books, including The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans, are down 45% despite having sold consistently for years. So, what’s happening?

Well, can you say AI?

Why would people read a prescriptive nonfiction book when they can get that information for free, in seconds, with the click of a button?

We can wah-wah-wah about this, or we can ask ourselves, “What am I going to do about it?”

The good news is, we have AGENCY.

The brilliant novelist Ann Patchett was becoming discouraged by the number of low-quality books flooding the market that were backed by big money. So, she opened Parnassus Books in Nashville, which features highly curated books and hosts hundreds of community readings and events.

We can “Ann Patchett” our profession by…

• Championing quality authors. Whenever we read or hear a book that impacts us, give that author a shout-out in a post, podcast, or presentation.
  
  

• Being a good date for the reader. Replace neck-up INFObesity with intriguing, inspiring, proof-of-concept stories, human dialogue, feelings, and interactive questions.

• Making every word tell and pouring our raw, hard-won, human wisdom and joy into our work. We have been gifted with the ability to transfer our unique EEE (Expertise. Experience. Epiphanies.) from our head and heart into other people’s heads and hearts.

The how-to book ball is in our court.

If we care about this industry, we have a Force For Good responsibility to start advocating for the industry we love.

This is ours to do. It’s easy. It’s free. And it matters.