Have Celebrity Book Clubs Peaked?

And other musings.

This is a multi-topic newsletter because I couldn’t decide what to write about this week. First, I want to thank

Leigh Stein

and

Jo Piazza

for participating in a panel discussion yesterday via Zoom about how newsletters change the media landscape. It was part of the Women’s Media Group programming. I’m on the board there, and we do good work. Kat Tembarge, who writes Spitfire News, and Marisa Kabas, who writes The Handbasket, also participated. You can learn more about Women’s Media Group here.

And now, the topics du jour. Discussed below: Celebrity book clubs, BookTok, Jenna Bush’s book festival, and B&N.

Have Celebrity Book Clubs Peaked?

When I saw that Reese’s book club pick for May was Emily Henry’s new book Great Big Beautiful Life, and Oprah’s book club pick for May was Tina Knowles’ memoir, Matriarch, I rolled my eyes. Not because I don’t think these books deserve to be read—they do—but because they hardly need a celebrity book club behind them to sell. There are SO MANY other books that could benefit from being book club picks, and it’s not wrong to assume that Oprah + Beyonce + Tina Knowles= book club, just as it is not wrong to assume that Reese Witherspoon might want a leg up on adapting Great Big Beautiful Life. After all, J. Lo’s production company has optioned Happy Place for a series on Netflix.

This is not a ding against the authors. Instead, it is frustrating to know there are terrific novels that could use the publicity, but they weren’t chosen because Reese and Oprah are fangirling. Conversely, Dua Lipa, whose book club Service 95 chooses old and new titles, introduces books to an audience they probably would not have otherwise read. To me, that is how to serve the literary community best.

TikTok’s Sponsored Content About BookTok

Yesterday, I saw an article from Forbes about BookTok. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the “article” was actually sponsored content under the Forbes “Brand Voice” program. That means TikTok paid to place this piece. Obviously, they are reminding people how vital BookTok is to book publishing (as if there aren’t hundreds of articles about this already). Interestingly, they chose to do it in Forbes (read: they are running a PR campaign to ensure we, the people, stay on their side in their battle with the US government).

BookTok and The Bookseller

The Bookseller (keep in mind they focus on UK publishing) published an interesting piece this week about BookTok, romantasy, and follower counts. You can read it here. Authors still receive conflicting messages about platforms, but one thing we can’t dispute is that having a robust platform helps in marketing your book. Getting a book deal is one thing, but the ability to connect directly with your audience and market your book is entirely different, especially when writing fiction. Relying on reviews is an easy path to disappointment.

Jenna Bush and Her Book Festival

This morning, Jenna Bush announced the debut of the “Read with Jenna Book Festival,” featuring…Read with Jenna authors. It will occur May 30-31 at the W Hotel in Nashville. It’s not the festival that made me raise an eyebrow. It’s the price of admission. A “General Admission Experience” ticket costs $399, and a VIP ticket costs a whopping $699. Neither price includes lodging or transportation, but you can eat some food. Read all about it here. It’s worth pointing out that the National Book Festival, the L.A. Times Festival of Books, the Miami Book Fair, the Texas Book Festival, and many other book festivals are free to attend. I don’t think I need to remind this crowd (meaning you, reader) that when you jack up the price of admission, you are automatically placing a barrier to entry for many readers. I don’t think it’s right to do that, especially in this economy.

James Daunt has the Best PR Machine

I’ve been meaning to comment on this for a while. Every few weeks, I read the same article about B&N, like this one in The Economist or this one in The Financial Times. They always focus on how Barnes & Noble is reinventing itself or changing how books are sold. They don’t say how these changes have hurt publishers because B&N skips so many titles and has cut way back on children’s and middle-grade books. I appreciate all they do for authors and books. I wish the narrative weren’t so neatly tied up, but that is what good PR people do: create great narratives.

On My Agenda

I’m attending the Book Industry Study Group’s annual meeting on Friday. I will report back.

Current Projects (click on each title for more info). If you are in media/have a newsletter/are a book influencer, and would like a copy, get in touch: kathleen@kmspr.com

Set Piece, 831 Stories, 5/6/25

Sing the Truth, Authors Equity, 5/13/25

Lone Dog Road, New World Library, 5/20/25

On Board, Radius Book Group, 6/24/25

Calypso Blue, Down & Out Books, 6/30/25

Slip, Simon Element, 8/5/25

Fade In, Authors Equity, 7/29/25

Much more to come!