What determines which ideas reach us increasingly shapes what we know, what we discuss, and whose voices enter the public conversation.
In publishing, that power has shifted dramatically. The barriers to producing a book have fallen, yet the challenge of getting anyone to notice it has become formidable.
I have spent more than two decades in publishing, and I have watched the industry’s gatekeeper change.
There was a time when an author needed a publisher to get a book produced and distributed at scale. Publishers decided which manuscripts received investment, distribution and access to bookstores.
That barrier has fallen considerably. Today, an individual can write a manuscript, upload it to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), and have a book available to readers without securing a traditional publishing contract.
That democratization matters.
I teach students how to publish a book through KDP in 10 steps, and I encourage people who have something valuable to share and an existing community to consider self-publishing.
The technology has opened a door that once required institutional permission.
Yet opening the door does not guarantee that anyone walks through it.
The scale of today’s publishing environment illustrates the problem. According to Bowker data reported by Publishers Weekly, more than 4 million ISBN-registered (International Standard Book Number) titles were published in the United States in 2025.
More than 3.5 million were self-published, a 38.7 percent increase from the previous year. The sheer volume changes the central question.
Digitized Gatekeepers
Publishing a book is increasingly accessible. Getting a book discovered is increasingly difficult.
We have not eliminated gatekeepers. We have digitized them.
This creates a fundamental misconception around self-publishing. Anyone can publish does not mean anyone can reach an audience.
A brilliant book can disappear beneath thousands of competing titles. Expertise does not automatically translate into visibility.
A carefully developed message can struggle against content that generates stronger immediate engagement. Even language can matter.
I once had a book delayed on Amazon because its title contained words that, in the context of the period, carried a highly negative association.
That experience reinforced something publishers must understand: discoverability is influenced by the environment in which a message is presented.
The Changing Role of Publishers
I have seen this transformation firsthand. Twenty years ago, I could examine Ingram’s new-release lists and think about getting a promising book into hundreds or even more than a thousand physical stores.
Many of those stores no longer exist. Distribution has increasingly expanded into digital channels, and marketing has followed it.
That has fundamentally changed the job of a publisher.
My recent work around 18 Days in Heaven by Gabe Poirot, which became a New York Times bestseller, reinforced the point for me.
We approached marketing as a media strategy rather than treating a book tour as a sequence of bookstore appearances. We used social platforms, podcasts, YouTube, author networks, and other communities to create sustained attention around the book and its message.
I have learned to think about audiences in two categories: owned communities and borrowed communities.
An email list, a direct audience, and relationships with readers provide a degree of ownership. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and other platforms provide access to borrowed communities.
Both matter. The mistake is believing either one is sufficient by itself.
The Book Is the Starting Point
Digital platforms can allow an unknown author with a valuable idea to reach people who would never encounter that author through traditional distribution.
A publisher that understands technology, media, and audience behavior can amplify worthwhile ideas across multiple channels.
The dystopian possibility is equally clear. If authors become completely dependent on algorithms they cannot control, a change in ranking systems, policies, or platform priorities can make years of audience-building suddenly less effective. Influence becomes rented space.
That is why the future of publishing must be built around ecosystems rather than platform dependency.
A book should become a starting point for podcasts, newsletters, interviews, social content, speaking engagements, communities and strategic partnerships.
Authors should develop a consistent presence around their areas of expertise and begin building an audience before the next book launches.
Durable Influence
Publishers have an even greater responsibility. Our role should extend beyond producing and distributing books. We should help authors understand where audiences gather, how messages travel and how communities can reinforce one another.
When an author appears on a podcast, another author can share that conversation. When a YouTube audience discovers an idea, that audience can become part of a larger community. Each channel can contribute to a broader network of discovery.
The objective is durable influence.
Algorithms can determine what appears on a screen. They cannot manufacture credibility, wisdom or genuine human trust. Those remain human assets.
So I believe authors should start now. Choose one platform. Publish consistently within a defined area of expertise. Build direct relationships with readers. Then expand deliberately across other channels. Publishers should do the same at an institutional level.
The future will belong to those who understand that publishing a book is only the beginning. The real work is building an audience capable of carrying its ideas forward, regardless of which algorithm controls the next screen.
Don Nori is CEO of Nori Media Group, a publishing and media company, the publishing imprints of which include Destiny Image, Harrison House and Sound Wisdom.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.