I was recently chatting to an indie bookstore owner and asked them how they knew which new books would best sit on their shelves out of the hundreds of thousands published every year. The replied they don't spend time on such onerous sifting. Instead, their distributor's account managers know what sells best in the store (they can see the sales data) and so recommend books that will also likely sell well. So - and I know this sounds really obvious - isn't a big part of any market targeting solution already sat within the social channels and EPOS data which publishers already hold or could easily obtain? Why aren't they better at levering these resources? After all, FMCG companies have been doing this for decades.
This is a very interesting post filled with a lot of info I didn't know! Something that especially stood out to me - a former book podcaster and someone who's been reviewing books publicly since 2016- was you saying that publishers are publishing an astronomical number of books and that backlist is such a huge source of sells. Many of us in the book review/recommendation space on here and Bookstagram (I'm not on TikTok) have talked about noticing this. It doesn't seem like 2025 is going to be the year that publishers are scaling back either, January is packed with tons of new releases publishing. It's making me shift a greater focus to independent publishers.
Your description of publisher responses reminds me of music industry leaders in Netflix's series The Playlist -- hemorrhaging revenue, they shut their eyes to the solution a digital music platform like Spotify portended.
I appreciate the post and info, but still have no idea what to do. I'm currently just trying everything and seeing what sticks. I'm on my own with limited time so I don't know what else to do.
Preach! And... it's so hard to sort through podcasts and Substacks and social media accounts to find that unicorn: a platform that has actual influence/engagement and isn't pay-for-play in an era where everyone and their brother is producing content.
It's doable, and it's kinda fun. It's also what I call "hand work at the factory" and takes a huge amount of time and a not small amount of savvy.
When I was working on licensed books, I had to submit a list of influencers to the licensor for approval and include why I wanted to work with them. It was exhausting and took so much time.
But, especially for a company with a brand to protect, I needed to make sure they weren't wriiting/posting about Batman or Gilmore Girls one day, and threatening to overthrow the government or promoting sketchy health claims the day before.
If I ruled the world there would be an army of interns who could a lot of that first-pass work, and publicists do further vetting and pitching.
I've used PodPitch - which is AI creepy and also a huge time saver. Services and tools like these are going to be essential if short-staffed publishers are going to have half a chance of targeting needle-moving creators.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing - that you've mentioned several times - is getting authors and managers on board. No one I've ever worked for would be happy if I spent a solid week coming up with a list of Substacks and podcasts, or for me to deliver a publicity report that didn't have any "major" media.
The culture within the houses absolutely needs to change.
In thinking about where I learn about new books, it used to be the NYT Book Review. Now it’s a book club podcast. Your post made me wonder if there is a Substack book reviewer that you would recommend?
I'm watching, listening, reading, and thinking with rapt intrigue. A tectonic paradigm shift is underway and experience tells me that soon we'll see a major departure from traditional norms into something completely different. Years ago at any given event, within a very narrow scope, news was reported by legacy media which closely resembled what actually happened . Though truth was seen from numerous perspectives, within reason readers/viewers knew the margin of error was small and the given event happened as reported. Responsibility was key to reporting.
But truth became inconvenient. Enter bias, market share, capitalism, personal narrative, and an enormous thirst for winning at all cost (all this about the time we started handing out 'participation trophies'). Today, legacy media has convinced us what we just saw with our own two eyes isn't really the way an incident occurred. It's the old PR marketing trick where you've shaped your own narrative and beat people between the eyes with your version until they finally believe what they just saw/heard didn't really occur the way we thought it did.
Truth and backbone have returned. Gone are the lazy days when we were happy with what someone told us - we want to figure out the truth for ourselves, and we're strong enough again to say 'hey, wait a minute.' Question everything, believe nothing. Legacy media better get onboard before they lose all their advertisers and become extinct!
Thank you for writing about this so clearly. As an author coming off of a book launch year which saw some cherished awards but stalled out on media stardom (turns out putting words together quietly on paper is not the same talent -ahem- as filming and editing TikTok Reels and performing on podcasts), I am looking towards my next book with some trepidation. Is the ROI worth the hard work? And part of this is the general media surround that you describe. It helps to have role models in the business who at least shine light on the conflicts and disruption.
This is all so excellent. I get frustrated because I feel there is a sense of elitism as well in terms of wanting to ignore the failings of mainstream media-an unwillingness of publishers (and many others) to "give in and let go" and explore a new way of doing things, which just holds everyone back. Newsletters, social media, and other things you mentioned don't get the credit they deserve, which is not to say they are perfect either, but they are worthy of investment.
You and I are very close on this marketing dilemma, and the frustration with mainstream media, what’s left of it. It’s gone from “very bad” to “delusional.” Here’s my tip to your daily devoted news pig diet: I subscribe to the Le Monde newsletter. Ha’aretz, Al Jazeera. Guardian. Canadian news television. You feel like you’ve gone in a Time Machine. Books still matter. Onward!
I read The Guardian. It's interesting, because NBC News Now, which I keep on all day, does cover books. The problem is that not enough consumers are beefing up their media diet. It's quite the opposite.
I was recently chatting to an indie bookstore owner and asked them how they knew which new books would best sit on their shelves out of the hundreds of thousands published every year. The replied they don't spend time on such onerous sifting. Instead, their distributor's account managers know what sells best in the store (they can see the sales data) and so recommend books that will also likely sell well. So - and I know this sounds really obvious - isn't a big part of any market targeting solution already sat within the social channels and EPOS data which publishers already hold or could easily obtain? Why aren't they better at levering these resources? After all, FMCG companies have been doing this for decades.
I loved The Husbands, great choice!
This is a very interesting post filled with a lot of info I didn't know! Something that especially stood out to me - a former book podcaster and someone who's been reviewing books publicly since 2016- was you saying that publishers are publishing an astronomical number of books and that backlist is such a huge source of sells. Many of us in the book review/recommendation space on here and Bookstagram (I'm not on TikTok) have talked about noticing this. It doesn't seem like 2025 is going to be the year that publishers are scaling back either, January is packed with tons of new releases publishing. It's making me shift a greater focus to independent publishers.
Your description of publisher responses reminds me of music industry leaders in Netflix's series The Playlist -- hemorrhaging revenue, they shut their eyes to the solution a digital music platform like Spotify portended.
I appreciate the post and info, but still have no idea what to do. I'm currently just trying everything and seeing what sticks. I'm on my own with limited time so I don't know what else to do.
It still hurts as an author but also makes me feel hopeful. Stuff needs to break for it to work again. Great post!
Preach! And... it's so hard to sort through podcasts and Substacks and social media accounts to find that unicorn: a platform that has actual influence/engagement and isn't pay-for-play in an era where everyone and their brother is producing content.
It's doable, and it's kinda fun. It's also what I call "hand work at the factory" and takes a huge amount of time and a not small amount of savvy.
When I was working on licensed books, I had to submit a list of influencers to the licensor for approval and include why I wanted to work with them. It was exhausting and took so much time.
But, especially for a company with a brand to protect, I needed to make sure they weren't wriiting/posting about Batman or Gilmore Girls one day, and threatening to overthrow the government or promoting sketchy health claims the day before.
If I ruled the world there would be an army of interns who could a lot of that first-pass work, and publicists do further vetting and pitching.
I've used PodPitch - which is AI creepy and also a huge time saver. Services and tools like these are going to be essential if short-staffed publishers are going to have half a chance of targeting needle-moving creators.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing - that you've mentioned several times - is getting authors and managers on board. No one I've ever worked for would be happy if I spent a solid week coming up with a list of Substacks and podcasts, or for me to deliver a publicity report that didn't have any "major" media.
The culture within the houses absolutely needs to change.
In thinking about where I learn about new books, it used to be the NYT Book Review. Now it’s a book club podcast. Your post made me wonder if there is a Substack book reviewer that you would recommend?
I take all this as good news. It’s easier in some cases to get coverage in newsletters, podcasts, social media people then Oprah. Great post!
I'm watching, listening, reading, and thinking with rapt intrigue. A tectonic paradigm shift is underway and experience tells me that soon we'll see a major departure from traditional norms into something completely different. Years ago at any given event, within a very narrow scope, news was reported by legacy media which closely resembled what actually happened . Though truth was seen from numerous perspectives, within reason readers/viewers knew the margin of error was small and the given event happened as reported. Responsibility was key to reporting.
But truth became inconvenient. Enter bias, market share, capitalism, personal narrative, and an enormous thirst for winning at all cost (all this about the time we started handing out 'participation trophies'). Today, legacy media has convinced us what we just saw with our own two eyes isn't really the way an incident occurred. It's the old PR marketing trick where you've shaped your own narrative and beat people between the eyes with your version until they finally believe what they just saw/heard didn't really occur the way we thought it did.
Truth and backbone have returned. Gone are the lazy days when we were happy with what someone told us - we want to figure out the truth for ourselves, and we're strong enough again to say 'hey, wait a minute.' Question everything, believe nothing. Legacy media better get onboard before they lose all their advertisers and become extinct!
Thank you for writing about this so clearly. As an author coming off of a book launch year which saw some cherished awards but stalled out on media stardom (turns out putting words together quietly on paper is not the same talent -ahem- as filming and editing TikTok Reels and performing on podcasts), I am looking towards my next book with some trepidation. Is the ROI worth the hard work? And part of this is the general media surround that you describe. It helps to have role models in the business who at least shine light on the conflicts and disruption.
This is all so excellent. I get frustrated because I feel there is a sense of elitism as well in terms of wanting to ignore the failings of mainstream media-an unwillingness of publishers (and many others) to "give in and let go" and explore a new way of doing things, which just holds everyone back. Newsletters, social media, and other things you mentioned don't get the credit they deserve, which is not to say they are perfect either, but they are worthy of investment.
Also saw this about no other than Stephen King, and thought I would share since it is connected https://www.thedailybeast.com/even-stephen-king-is-getting-out-of-the-media-business/
Appreciate the no-BS insight. The world is shifting rapidly and authors/publishers need to be more nimble than ever.
You and I are very close on this marketing dilemma, and the frustration with mainstream media, what’s left of it. It’s gone from “very bad” to “delusional.” Here’s my tip to your daily devoted news pig diet: I subscribe to the Le Monde newsletter. Ha’aretz, Al Jazeera. Guardian. Canadian news television. You feel like you’ve gone in a Time Machine. Books still matter. Onward!
I read The Guardian. It's interesting, because NBC News Now, which I keep on all day, does cover books. The problem is that not enough consumers are beefing up their media diet. It's quite the opposite.
Excellent analysis that does not warm the cockles of my heart.
Thank you and sorry!
Sums up reality in publishing these days.