Fortunately, after I got my Ph.D., my books organically morphed from self-help to expert commentary. Why fortunately? Because most of my fellow-authors, mostly un-credentialed, who continued to think that their peers would pay good money for their wise and sound advice are now wandering the hills of Mill Valley, California with a vacant, glassy look in their eyes. Nobody pays for advice anymore—unless it’s from a trusted therapist that your excellent medical plan will cover with a $10 deductible.

I, myself, knew that the end was coming when most of the women who waited in line to get my signature on a book had one of two comments to make:

1. I could have written this myself

2. Could you give me the name of your agent?

3. In brief, the generation became self-empowered

Even if they still had needs and issues (of course we do!) the general feeling became why pay for wisdom when you can get it for free from Oprah? Psycho/spiritual guidance has been absorbed into the mainstream. Psychology Today, which once gleefully surfed the wave of college-aged boomer fascination with anything internal, washed up on the shore years ago. The bookstore tables once laden with titles like You Can Be Your Own Best Friend have all gone to chick lit.

Paraphrasing Thomas Troland, Sr. Market Analyst of Meredith Corporation’s Research Solutions Group, what was once the inward journey of discovery has now become the outward bound adventure. Barbara Jones, Deputy Editor of More echoes the sentiment: the boomer woman may well still be doing yoga. But if she wants to read about it, the yoga had better be something out of the ordinary, preferably in some exotic location requiring a trek with sherpas.

So, self-help as we know it—the solo man or woman sharing their wisdom as authority figure—is over. But that doesn’t mean that boomers won’t continue to buy advice books addressing the issues they’re facing--be it caregiving elderly parents, keeping up with the latest beauty and diet regimen or the latest tips on parenting (adult children!)

They’ll still be buying books on these subjects--but they’ll be books they, themselves, have written. Not as individuals--and not as experts--but in collaborative, multiple-authored texts. Think of it as the elevation of collective wisdom to star status--the logical next step for boomers, who would rather trust each other than the so-called experts. (“Referential rather than deferential” comments one prominent CEO who caters to the boomer market…) Boomers have become cynical about any information that appears to come from a source who may have any agenda whatsoever.

Tom Troland is part of an on-line experiment even as you read this report, in which visitors to a website are invited to participate (submit and/or vote) on the contents of a business book that will eventually be published. Troland thinks about all the contributors and visitors to the site who will be standing in line to purchase the book…a built-in audience as the welcome side-product of the strategy.

For more on boomers and publishing trends, stay tuned for our first Trend Report, our predictions about marketing to boomers on an industry-by-industry basis, which will be published on this site shortly.

Carol Orsborn