Book Preorders + Volatile Social Media
Publishers want authors to push preorders for their books, but what happens if social media isn't working?
It probably won’t shock you that my media consumption outpaces my book consumption. There’s a reason: I can’t write this newsletter without reading a lot of business, publishing, media, political, and tech news. Last week, I wrote about NPR and PBS leaving Twitter and what it means for book publishing. As I write this week’s edition, people and media outlets have lost their verification on Twitter, and Buzzfeed News is shutting down. Something notable in Jonah Peretti’s (CEO of Buzzfeed) email to staff: He is concentrating on HuffPost for news because it is less dependent on social platforms. There are other reasons for Buzzfeed News shutting down—not having an effective CEO being one of them. I’m bringing this up because it is a segue into this week’s topic: book preorders.
As soon as a book’s metadata (metadata is the information about a book fed into a system that then sends it to Amazon, B&N, etc.) is available and uploaded to online retailer websites, publishers task authors with getting preorders. This means authors need to post about their books on social media platforms with links people can click to order the book before it goes on sale. Let’s dig in:
Why do publishers want authors to get preorders?
Publishers want to gauge demand for a book as early as possible so they can 1) determine first printings, 2) plan budgets, and 3) get a better picture of the amount of marketing and publicity a book will need to make sales pop. A fourth and somewhat murkier reason is that other retailers look at the rankings on Amazon. Say B&N initially decided not to carry a book in their stores, and its ranking on Amazon suddenly rockets into the top 100. As a result, B&N will likely order a quantity to distribute to some of their stores. Is there written proof of this? No, but trust me, it happens.
How do authors get people to preorder their books?
Usually, authors use their social media platforms to solicit preorders from their followers. But, unfortunately, there are only so many copies your sister/brother/aunt/mom/dad/grandma/3rd cousin/dog will buy. So a common practice is for authors to post something about a book with a link to preorder it. The platforms where I see this the most are Twitter, Instagram, and, occasionally, Facebook.
How far before a book’s publication do authors ask people to preorder their books?
Preorders are available anywhere from 18 months before a book’s publication. Sometimes longer, sometimes less.
The issue is that if there is no urgency to your book or you are not a celeb/politician/otherwise famous, people are less likely to preorder it. Further, consumers are more apt to preorder items when scarcity is involved. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve driven to a U-Haul truck to pick up cinnamon buns. It’s true! The woman who runs Mav’s Top Buns in New Jersey announces a “drop” on Instagram, and then we gluttonous folks preorder them at a specific time. Here’s the brilliance in that method: once there are a certain number of orders, they’re sold out. It’s the most basic supply and demand system I’ve seen lately. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t apply to book publishing. Unless a publisher is short on printing books, plenty can be had wherever they are sold.
This is not to say preorders don’t occur—they do—but in modest numbers. When I preorder a book, it’s because the author is a friend, the author is someone I read regularly, or I don’t want to forget about a title. Sometimes, I’ll preorder an audiobook because it’s a celebrity memoir I want to listen to. I think this aligns with most people who preorder books.
Preorders and Social Media
Publishing currently faces a problem that I’ve yet to see addressed: If the algorithms on Twitter and other platforms are unreliable and an author needs to get preorders for their book, is it fair to say there is a lack of demand for a title if preorders are light? The answer is no it is not fair to say there is a lack of demand. The reality publishers must face is that the way preorders happen isn’t going to work well in the future. The algorithm became an echo chamber even before Twitter became the equivalent of a failed SpaceX launch. Instagram keeps showing me posts from February (it’s April). If you want to add a link in TikTok, you must have at least 1000 followers and switch to a business account. You can read more about that here.
This is not to say all is lost. Instagram stories and Reels are still viable options, even though the algorithm can be tricky there, too. Facebook is always an option, though the sales conversion rate isn’t great. My point is publishers can’t continue on a path of putting the onus on authors to muster up preorders. Nor can they place so much emphasis on preorders. This isn’t only a problem publishers must address, but also a problem booksellers must address. The two driving forces in preorders are B&N and Amazon. B&N has changed its model for ordering books, so individual store managers are responsible for choosing what books to stock. As a result, many titles are passed over unless a particular book has a surge of preorders on Amazon. This is a vicious cycle that must stop. Asking authors to solicit preorders on volatile social media platforms in an attention economy (and a bad fiscal economy) is a recipe for disaster. Authors dislike soliciting people for preorders and don’t know how often to do it. Consumers are spending money, but they are spending it on specific items/services: Crocs, Levi’s, Olive Garden, and Build-a-Bear have seen double-digit revenue growth over the past few months. The spend? On average, I’d say $50. The difference is that all of those things are comfort items instantly available.
How Publishers and Retailers Should Approach Preorders in 2023
Be realistic: Understand what’s happening on social platforms and adjust expectations. If a title has modest preorders 3-6 months before publication, it isn’t because no one will buy the book. It’s because people aren’t seeing the message to buy the book.
Find a happy medium for first printing numbers: It is perfectly reasonable to print fewer copies than you think you’ll need but more copies than you might want. Supply chain be damned; reprints can be ordered at a swift pace if they are done domestically.
Don’t rely heavily on an author’s follower count: Engagement on social media is mostly abysmal. On TikTok, the views matter, not the follower count. The same applies to Instagram stories and Reels. Engagement on Facebook is on life support.
Offer premiums: Consider what you, the publisher or retailer, can offer an author to sweeten the deal for preorders. I’m not suggesting tote bags or bucket hats (though who doesn’t love a good tote bag)? Give authors your platform and be equitable about what titles you promote on them.
Pricing: Who doesn’t love an early bird special? Can we not work together to offer a book at a special discounted rate for a select amount of time when it is available for preorder? This isn’t impossible. I realize there is a call to raise the prices of books, but I wouldn’t start doing that without a plan to address the preorder problem.
Pricing, part 2: If you are going to raise the prices of hardcovers, make them premium products and lean into more trade paperback originals at better price points. I can already hear sales directors saying, “We can’t.” Yes, you can.
Brand partnerships: I know this already occurs, but it isn’t at a scale that makes a big difference. Get more creative. Consumers love a good collab.
AI: AI is already changing the way consumers search for things online. How is your metadata aligning with that? It matters for discoverability.
Links: It is time to break up with the idea that authors must use a link to the publisher’s page for a book where the consumer must click again to choose their preferred retailer. Consumers prefer one click to reach a product page and another to buy. Instead, allow authors to post whichever retail link works for them.
Understand the media cycle on social platforms: We are almost halfway through 2023, and 2024 is an election year. Between that and the relentless stream of breaking news, it isn't quiet on social platforms. You cannot expect an author to break through all of it.
I don’t have a perfect solution, but these suggestions should be explored if they haven’t already. The answer is not to keep doing things the way they’ve always been done because that isn’t going to work. Authors can no longer carry the sole burden of getting enough preorders to justify their existence on publishers’ lists. If you are a publisher, supporting every title on your list is in your best interest. If you can’t, then don’t publish as many books. An author’s career shouldn’t suffer because of a publisher’s fiscal shortcomings. Likewise, retailers shouldn’t pass on the opportunity to sell a book because an author can’t get traction on their tweets due to a faulty algorithm.
As always, send your thoughts to: publishingconfidential@gmail.com
Afterword:
Indulge me in some self-promotion:
This week, I was interviewed on The Write Approach podcast. Listen here.
On May 3 at 1pm, I will be in conversation with writers and founders of Witches of Pitches, Megan Margulies and Aileen Weintraub. We’ll discuss “Enchanting Ways to Levitate Your Platform.” You won’t want to miss this. You can register here.
On April 28, I am attending the Book Industry Study Group’s Annual Meeting. It is an interesting event! I’ll recap it in an upcoming newsletter.
The whole pre-order thing has always baffled me. Human beings are really, really bad at delayed gratification, so why are publishers building entire decision-making structures around something we're so incredibly bad at? For the average reader and the average book, there's no benefit at all to pre-ordering. Why would I spend money now on something I'm not going to get for months?
The situation with social media is only going to get worse. The major platforms have been throttling any post that includes an external link for a few years now, so even if there weren't a huge amount of noise to cut through, authors would still be reaching fewer people than they used to. The abdication of responsibility for marketing might have worked for publishers for a while, but it's going to come back to bite them on the arse as more authors find it nigh on impossible to get traction in a fractured social media landscape that is, in many cases, on fire. There's going to have to be a rethink.
This is so wise and refreshing. I'm very interested to see how things shake out, and what the next "it" method is going to be for authors trying to build a platform.