Book Publishing Must Break Up with Twitter

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is not going to improve. Now what?

This fall has proven to be one with neverending illnesses. This newsletter is tardy because I’ve had an ear infection all week. Paid subscribers will receive their edition soon about the anatomy of a bestseller.

Before we begin, subscriber housekeeping:

I. How Did We Get Here?

I’m not one to make proclamations, but it feels good to write that I deleted my Twitter account. I suspect others are experiencing the same feelings that prevented me from leaving the platform: How can I give up all my followers? What if I need it for work? How will I find out about breaking news? The list goes on. I spent 15 years on Twitter (sorry, I can’t call it “X”), building a following, networking, making friends, and tweeting a lot. I amassed close to 15K followers, including journalists, media outlets, publishers, and occasional celebrities. I am lucky that some people I met on Twitter have become dear friends IRL (in real life). However, over the past few months, I saw my engagement levels plummet, received massive amounts of spam in my DMs (direct messages), and watched as Elon Musk made Twitter worse. The platform hadn’t been good for some time, but it is still astonishing to see Musk effectively drive it into the ground. Advertisers are fleeing because 1) Musk can’t contain his antisemitism and 2) Ads are appearing next to pro-Nazi posts. You can read more about that here.

It has been my feeling since Musk took over Twitter that he wants to deliberately send the company into bankruptcy so he can restructure the debt he incurred when he bought it. Seven banks lent Musk around $13B to purchase Twitter, which they had hoped to sell to investment firms but now cannot due to the steep decrease in value of the platform. Instead, banks will take a hit on their balance sheets. Conversely, TikTok and Meta have increased revenue. What does this tell us? For starters, it tells us that Twitter is burning money alarmingly fast.

It also indicates instability. It’s been a year since Musk bought Twitter and a few months since he hired ad exec Linda Yaccarino as the company’s CEO. Yet, the platform still can’t retain advertisers and users. Further, there is minimal content moderation. How could content moderation be a priority when the person who needs the most moderation owns the platform? Musk favors users who pay for Twitter Blue, which means a lot of people with bad intentions are now “verified.”

All of this is to say that leaving a platform essentially on life support isn’t difficult. I understand when people tell me they can’t bring themselves to delete their accounts. It is like your favorite restaurant is under new ownership, serving meals that don’t taste as good. You keep eating there with the hope that it will improve. It never does.

II. Publishing + Twitter, A Love Story

In 2008, a friend told me to check out a new platform called Twitter because she knew I’d love it. She was right. At the time, I was VP of Publicity at Atria Books and encouraged other imprints at Simon & Schuster to create accounts. At the time, Twitter seemed like an excellent tool for people to discover books and connect with others in the book world. As the platform grew, it became a hub for breaking news and live-tweeting shows like The Bachelor. It was a way for authors to reach readers, and boy, were we excited. Writers created their community on Twitter, and book deals were doled out to people with good ideas and a significant following. As Twitter evolved, the publishing industry leaned heavily on the platform because it provided tangible numbers. An author with over 100K followers who could buy books? Sign them up!

Unfortunately, as time passed, it became clear that there was little sales conversion from authors/publishers posting about books on Twitter. Yet, many agents and editors insisted (and still insist) that potential authors have a robust following on the platform or it will be too hard to acquire the book. That is no longer a valid reason to sign or reject an author. It is perfectly fine if an author skips Twitter and spends time elsewhere. When publishers rely on other platforms for promotion, they are relenting control to the respective CEOs of each company. Elon Musk could decide to offload Twitter tomorrow. What is plan B for publishing? Wait until the platform dies and complain when it is no longer around? That doesn’t quite cut it. I’d ask the same question about TikTok. What if the platform is banned in the U.S.? Publishers can’t blame platforms that disappear for loss of revenue. They should have alternative plans in place.

The most prudent thing publishers can do is leave Twitter and put more resources into other marketing avenues. There is no ROI (return on investment) to be had when the algorithm is set to amplify paid accounts.

III. What Should Happen Next

If publishers haven’t discussed pivoting away from Twitter, I offer the following:

• Assess a potential author’s platform holistically. Is there room for growth? Is there engagement between the author and their followers? Is it a platform where features are being added to create a better user experience? A better user experience means people will spend more time on the platform.

• What are the author’s goals? Would Substack make sense for them, and can you, the publisher, help them? Does the author have an aversion to social media? If they do, talk to them about it. Forcing writers to join a platform and ramp up content can backfire if they are uncomfortable.

• Ask yourself what your company/imprint is getting from Twitter. Is there supporting data that shows a correlation between book sales and the number of followers an author has? Does your company/imprint’s Twitter account get a lot of engagement? Are you experiencing follower growth at a rate that makes the platform worthwhile? (My guess is no).

• Please take note of journalists leaving Twitter to put their efforts into Threads. This is also happening with media outlets. The engagement on Threads is far better than on Twitter.

• Have you performed an audit of your social media platforms? This requires examining growth and engagement YoY (year over year). For example, if your Twitter account had 550K followers at the end of 2022 and an increase of less than 1% or remained flat by the end of 2023, it is time to move on.

• Study what some brands are doing on TikTok and how their content has worked for them. A good example is Merit Beauty, who created a TikTok to announce a new eye shadow, which amassed 1.6M views and caused a frenzy (two colors are sold out). It is one of the best marketing campaigns I have ever seen.

• Being on social media autopilot isn’t a strategy. If your digital marketing team is bogged down with too many titles, it will be hard for them to feel creative. I speak from experience: When I was VP of Marketing for a publisher, there was so much work to do that creativity took a back seat. If authors wanted to be marketers, they would have followed that career path. Marketing must be a collaborative effort between writers and publishers. Educating authors on what to do and when is lacking in the industry.

• Rip up your playbook and start over. Publishing is both predictable and wholly unpredictable all at once. Publishers never know what books will break out (mostly) but continue to engage in the same marketing activities. Is Goodreads essential for marketing? Do you genuinely expect a significant number of preorders because an author posts a buy link on a social media platform that has a wonky algorithm? If the formula isn’t working, it’s time to try a new one.

• Do you have staff who monitor trends on social media? If not, rectify this.

• Viral social media posts do not equate to book sales.

• You need a backup plan if TikTok is consuming your digital marketing efforts. Instagram Reels has driven a 40% increase in people's time on the platform and should not be overlooked.

• Post with purpose, not because you are obliged to. I will die on the hill that book trailers are useless. They have no distribution plan, and most people watch videos for entertainment. Book trailers are not entertaining. If creating a book trailer is to appease an author, save your resources. The same goes for Instagram posts—showing a book with a coffee cup and candle will not cut it. We are firmly in an attention economy. Your marketing efforts need to rise to the occasion. What is the goal of each social media post?

• KPIs! Key performance indicators measure the success of marketing campaigns. What KPIs do you employ? Are they meaningful? Are they current? What do they look like if you remove Twitter from the picture?

There is more to say, but I have laid out food for thought. There is no reason publishers can’t abandon Twitter. Who is willing to take the plunge first?

As always, send comments and questions to publishingconfidential@gmail.com and business inquiries to kathleen@kmspr.com

End Notes:

What I’m Watching: I regret to inform you that I have fallen down the rabbit hole of “Welcome to Plathville” on TLC. My daughter and I are obsessed. The Plath family of Cairo (pronounced KAY-row), GA, are Christians with ten kids. Barry and Kim, the parents, have sheltered their family from…everything. As the show unfolds, we see the elder Plath kids entering the world. It’s fascinating.

What I’m Listening to: I’m halfway through The Woman in Me audiobook by Britney Spears (yes, I know there were ghostwriters). Michelle Williams should receive an Oscar for her narration. It is one of the more authentic celeb memoirs I’ve listened to.

What I’m buying: I’m obsessed with Merit Beauty’s Five-Minute Morning set.

I also scored these boots from Vince Camuto.

What I’m Reading: I’m excited to read The Memo by Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling. You can find out more about it here. It’s got a great cover.