In less than five years, traditional books may be dead as a primary and sustainable way for many established authors to make a living.

As people are rapidly getting used to receiving and consuming books on e-readers like Kindle, Nook and iPad, trends seem to show that books will suffer that same fate as other physical media that becomes available as digital media. It will become a medium so easy to download, copy and distribute, authors may no longer be able to make a living from book sales alone.

This has already happened to musicians. Musicians now make most of their income by touring and licensing. A new album mostly serves as marketing product or platform to get people excited about their tour and merchandise related to the artist.

The age where content is becoming cheaper to get and easier to distribute, music companies and publishers and now authors are more focused on becoming brands. Dr. Dre sells branded headphones. T-Pain has a music app. You could be the Beatles in the video game Guitar Hero. More and more the public are buying brands. And that’s different than being an artist or author. People will download copies of an artist or author for free. They’ll buy from a brand.

When that artist becomes a brand, there is a greater emotional attachment and investment. They will buy into an author or artist’s lifestyle or attitude. And when I say, buy, I mean literally buy. For musicians, it’s fans buying concert ticket and t-shirts, ringtones, their line of headphones and perfume. For authors, its the movie of the book, fan club conventions.

That’s why like musicians, the goal now it not be an author or a musician. It’s to be a brand.

That why like musicians and their new albums, a new book will become an adverting platform for the author, and not the end in itself. It’s now primary job, to promote the author as a personal brand in order to sell things that make money. Like concerts, T-shirts, movie deals, etc.

A guy writes on how he see the future of books. Read his article here.