Kathleen, I'd like to respond directly to this statement of yours:
"Granted, platforms are necessary, but I have yet to see a publisher experimenting with a social-first promotional strategy (leaning on influencers instead of traditional media). "
This is precisely the direction Romance publishers have all gone for more than a decade. They've quickly capitalized where on social media readers and influencers are and joined the conversation enthusiastically. Starting with bloggers to BookTokers.
Similarly, authors needing a strong platform and engaging directly with their readers are also something Romance publishers have been doing for more than a decade.
None of the other publishers are doing this, as you said, and perhaps,. they should study and emulate Romance publishers.
Thank you for this, and I am aware of how romance publishers have found success this way. That said, the industry writ large does not publish this way, which is what that statement was addressing. I will say, social-first promo lends itself very well to the romance genre. I don't know how it would land with, say, literary fiction.
But we won't know unless we don't try. Literary Fiction authors are trained to think that they live in ivory towers and above pedestrian things such as promo, because they're writing literature. What worked for Thoreau is not enough in 2024. Yes, they get all the literary prizes, and yet, the number of books sold is minimal. Frankly, their booming Romance imprints allow the publishers to produce these small-print-run LitFic books. Yet most of their marketing/publicity dollars go towards LitFic.
I learned the hard way that digital promotion does not work and I might as well have just thrown all the money I spent into a pile and started a bonfire. I chose digital because I didn't want to travel to speak about the memoir I wrote and published during the pandemic, unlike the path I took in the aughts with five self-published self-help books for mobile expat families. As the Expat Expert I got myself invited everywhere there were expats in the world and went there and could sell a thousand books at the back of the room in two weeks! Social media was just coming on line when I stepped back from that but I believe that if I had engaged in that same travel in 2023 when I published my memoir, it would have built my social media platform and sold books...so my advice is for authors to connect IN PERSON with readers.... book clubs, libraries, writing groups, be creative. That's the ticket! I'm certainly recommending that path to my daughter who has an environmental book for young children coming out next year. I will invest in her travel AND invest in a good publicity company (like Smith's!) to work with her.
I’m thinking about those bullet points that publishers put on ARCs- new authors believe the publisher will do all those things and they experience such disappoint when they don’t happen. I wish publishers were more clear about what marketing is aspirational.
As an author, there's a reason why I decided to avoid the traditional publishing industry and go straight to self publishing. It's too slow, requires heavily on self-referential things like comps, and feels like the author gets the least reward even though they're the foundation for the entire industry.
As for reviews. I've managed to get a few blogs to review my books over the years. No sales resulted. It's all been from slowly figuring out social media, and pay per impression ads. It's a long and slow process, but I'm learning. And I'm getting results.
Really smart post, Kathleen. I love the idea that publishers need to better be branding their own products and interacting as that brand across multiple platforms, and also that what a publicity department IS might need to change to coach authors on their branding and how it leads not only to publicity opportunities, but those opportunities being as fruitful as possible.
Love this challenge to the industry! I think these 'standard' and old-school media metrics are meant to signal the size of prize to publishers' sales teams & retail so they can estimate distribution, put in their orders, and properly plan their in-house promotional support (i.e., merchandising, circular/newsletter coverage), right? If so, I would hazard to guess another driver of the pivot will be when Amazon, B&N, Target, Costco, and the big indies start forcing pubs to share their digital-first strategies as part of the sales pitch.
I've been trying to think why, as an author, I find this oddly comforting. I think it's because the things that are changing and where publishing and media are misaligned are things very outside of the authors control in the first place. There's almost no chance for us ourselves to get big media reviews, for example. But the things that might work better--working with influencers and building a platform/following on places like Substack--are a little bit more in the authors control. I still wish/hope publishing overall will find new and better ways to support authors, but it's nice to feel that there's at least something I can do regardless of what my publisher may or may not be doing for me.
There is always something authors can be doing without waiting for publishers. The worst thing would be to think the publisher has it all covered when they clearly do not.
Thanks for this. I have so many questions but most of the answers probably involve a search engine and self training. If you or anyone on here has an easy to use, breaks it down for dummies website then please post. I am a first time author with a new memoir from an Indie publisher and feel absolutely overwhelmed.
Is it possible the Big 5 would perform better by not doing advances based upon guesswork, a strategy that seems to under-perform, and instead watch what books bubble up by popular choice in the self/hybrid pool, then move in to offer a publishing contract?
That wouldn’t fly with their corporate owners. Publishers need to bill retailers for a certain amount of books each fiscal quarter, so they must keep acquiring.
UK PR in publishing professional for over 15 years and I agree so much with this it hurts. 5 years ago getting 2 broadsheet reviews only for a very good non-fiction book (biog/history) felt like a fail. Nowadays it's huge. I do think it's also authors having unrealistic expectations and still wanting that broadsheet review which sells 2 copies above a podcast or newsletter mention which might sell ten times that. So PRs constantly get pushed to chase the handful of literary editors, taking up the time they could use in making connections with podcasters, influencers and so on. Thank you for writing this.
You are absolutely right about all of this, and it's absolutely daunting to think about how to find the Substacks, influencers who actually have influence and other people and partners when they number in the thousands.
I could kiss you 💋 I wish every VP of M&P (who hasn't personally pitched in a decade) could read this, never mind the Sales and Editorial muckety mucks.
I love this as I do with all your insights. I’m curious if there are various outlets that move the sales needle depending on the genre. For example, does CBS Sunday morning work as well for non culinary as it does when they do food features? Curious minds want to know!
This is exactly why I'm relaunching my business in 2025 focused *solely* on helping authors market their books in smart, strategic ways. There is a total disconnect and great works are slipping through the cracks of poor marketing strategies.
Kathleen, I'd like to respond directly to this statement of yours:
"Granted, platforms are necessary, but I have yet to see a publisher experimenting with a social-first promotional strategy (leaning on influencers instead of traditional media). "
This is precisely the direction Romance publishers have all gone for more than a decade. They've quickly capitalized where on social media readers and influencers are and joined the conversation enthusiastically. Starting with bloggers to BookTokers.
Similarly, authors needing a strong platform and engaging directly with their readers are also something Romance publishers have been doing for more than a decade.
None of the other publishers are doing this, as you said, and perhaps,. they should study and emulate Romance publishers.
Thank you for this, and I am aware of how romance publishers have found success this way. That said, the industry writ large does not publish this way, which is what that statement was addressing. I will say, social-first promo lends itself very well to the romance genre. I don't know how it would land with, say, literary fiction.
But we won't know unless we don't try. Literary Fiction authors are trained to think that they live in ivory towers and above pedestrian things such as promo, because they're writing literature. What worked for Thoreau is not enough in 2024. Yes, they get all the literary prizes, and yet, the number of books sold is minimal. Frankly, their booming Romance imprints allow the publishers to produce these small-print-run LitFic books. Yet most of their marketing/publicity dollars go towards LitFic.
I learn so much from you Kathleen
I learned the hard way that digital promotion does not work and I might as well have just thrown all the money I spent into a pile and started a bonfire. I chose digital because I didn't want to travel to speak about the memoir I wrote and published during the pandemic, unlike the path I took in the aughts with five self-published self-help books for mobile expat families. As the Expat Expert I got myself invited everywhere there were expats in the world and went there and could sell a thousand books at the back of the room in two weeks! Social media was just coming on line when I stepped back from that but I believe that if I had engaged in that same travel in 2023 when I published my memoir, it would have built my social media platform and sold books...so my advice is for authors to connect IN PERSON with readers.... book clubs, libraries, writing groups, be creative. That's the ticket! I'm certainly recommending that path to my daughter who has an environmental book for young children coming out next year. I will invest in her travel AND invest in a good publicity company (like Smith's!) to work with her.
Couldn't agree more!
I’m thinking about those bullet points that publishers put on ARCs- new authors believe the publisher will do all those things and they experience such disappoint when they don’t happen. I wish publishers were more clear about what marketing is aspirational.
As an author, there's a reason why I decided to avoid the traditional publishing industry and go straight to self publishing. It's too slow, requires heavily on self-referential things like comps, and feels like the author gets the least reward even though they're the foundation for the entire industry.
As for reviews. I've managed to get a few blogs to review my books over the years. No sales resulted. It's all been from slowly figuring out social media, and pay per impression ads. It's a long and slow process, but I'm learning. And I'm getting results.
Really smart post, Kathleen. I love the idea that publishers need to better be branding their own products and interacting as that brand across multiple platforms, and also that what a publicity department IS might need to change to coach authors on their branding and how it leads not only to publicity opportunities, but those opportunities being as fruitful as possible.
Love this challenge to the industry! I think these 'standard' and old-school media metrics are meant to signal the size of prize to publishers' sales teams & retail so they can estimate distribution, put in their orders, and properly plan their in-house promotional support (i.e., merchandising, circular/newsletter coverage), right? If so, I would hazard to guess another driver of the pivot will be when Amazon, B&N, Target, Costco, and the big indies start forcing pubs to share their digital-first strategies as part of the sales pitch.
I've been trying to think why, as an author, I find this oddly comforting. I think it's because the things that are changing and where publishing and media are misaligned are things very outside of the authors control in the first place. There's almost no chance for us ourselves to get big media reviews, for example. But the things that might work better--working with influencers and building a platform/following on places like Substack--are a little bit more in the authors control. I still wish/hope publishing overall will find new and better ways to support authors, but it's nice to feel that there's at least something I can do regardless of what my publisher may or may not be doing for me.
There is always something authors can be doing without waiting for publishers. The worst thing would be to think the publisher has it all covered when they clearly do not.
Thanks for this. I have so many questions but most of the answers probably involve a search engine and self training. If you or anyone on here has an easy to use, breaks it down for dummies website then please post. I am a first time author with a new memoir from an Indie publisher and feel absolutely overwhelmed.
Look through my archives. Plenty of content.
Great. Just joined but will do that
Is it possible the Big 5 would perform better by not doing advances based upon guesswork, a strategy that seems to under-perform, and instead watch what books bubble up by popular choice in the self/hybrid pool, then move in to offer a publishing contract?
That wouldn’t fly with their corporate owners. Publishers need to bill retailers for a certain amount of books each fiscal quarter, so they must keep acquiring.
UK PR in publishing professional for over 15 years and I agree so much with this it hurts. 5 years ago getting 2 broadsheet reviews only for a very good non-fiction book (biog/history) felt like a fail. Nowadays it's huge. I do think it's also authors having unrealistic expectations and still wanting that broadsheet review which sells 2 copies above a podcast or newsletter mention which might sell ten times that. So PRs constantly get pushed to chase the handful of literary editors, taking up the time they could use in making connections with podcasters, influencers and so on. Thank you for writing this.
I agree + thank you.
You are absolutely right about all of this, and it's absolutely daunting to think about how to find the Substacks, influencers who actually have influence and other people and partners when they number in the thousands.
I could kiss you 💋 I wish every VP of M&P (who hasn't personally pitched in a decade) could read this, never mind the Sales and Editorial muckety mucks.
Thank you!
I love this as I do with all your insights. I’m curious if there are various outlets that move the sales needle depending on the genre. For example, does CBS Sunday morning work as well for non culinary as it does when they do food features? Curious minds want to know!
This is exactly why I'm relaunching my business in 2025 focused *solely* on helping authors market their books in smart, strategic ways. There is a total disconnect and great works are slipping through the cracks of poor marketing strategies.
Wish you were starting this year though i doubt i cd afford it
I'm working on providing services for every level of affordability. Send me your email address and I'll let you know when I launch!