Jesse Finkelstein
Jesse Finkelstein is co-founder and principal of the publishing agency Page Two, which helps authors produce their non-fiction work to the highest possible standards. She is also an associate agent at Transatlantic Agency. She is the former chief operating office of D&M Publishers, and before that was associate publisher at Raincoast Books. She is adjunct faculty at the Simon Fraser University publishing program.
Younger Readers Prefer Printed Books
A university professor recently asked, “Will print books still exist in ten years?” It was a provocative question, a question intended to spark discussion. When we stated emphatically, "Yes, of course they will!" he remained unconvinced. His undergraduate students prefer reading digitally, he attested, evidenced by the fact that they are constantly on their laptops and iPhones. He insisted that millennials' digital fluency is leading to a decline in print reading. His theory seems logical, but data doesn’t support it.
The dreaded competitive title analysis
When you set out to draft a book proposal, you might find the "market competition" section to be the most confounding. To start with, who enjoys staring their competition in the face? It can be daunting to sort through all the books that exist in the same subject area as yours, and the authors who have found the success you aspire to. The fact is, it’s important for an author to know his or her market competition intimately: a market-savvy author is in a position of strength.
