I was thinking over the weekend about how it's been 10 years this spring since I was told by the president of a major sports industry brand that he couldn't justify creating a full-time position to handle social media. Now, sports and entertainment brands are hiring full-time positions titled "Vertical Video Specialist" (in addition to their more general social media positions) which is essentially a full-time TikTok creator for the brand. It's wild just how much TikTok has taken on a life of its own and reshaping/redefining the "social media" landscape for brands. Just because we don't understand or "get" it doesn't mean we shouldn't pay attention to it with curiosity and great respect. Ten years from now anyone shrugging off TikTok today is going to be a lot like my boss ten years ago who shrugged off social media as a short-term fad he didn't need to take too seriously or invest any time/money in.
Love your newsletter and these roundups, Kathleen! If you think it might interest your readers in a future roundup, I wrote up a piece about being an author at a Netflix movie premiere this weekend.
Really interesting stat re: record high backlist sales in 2023…says the person with half a dozen backlist titles, the bestselling of which went out of stock on Amazon over the holidays 🙃🙃🙃
Yes, that makes sense. I just wish there was more $/effort being put into promoting backlist if it’s such a huge (and growing) percentage of overall sales. But I suppose the streaming services don’t really promote old shows; they just throw ‘em up there and assume people will find them.
On one hand, I love that you've shared so much information, plus these all sound like great things to read! On the other, it's completely overwhelming to receive newsletters that link to a bunch of other cool stuff since it's hard enough to find time to read the original newsletters already!! It'll likely end up sitting in my inbox marked unread for months until I realize nope, it's not happening and click delete.
Happens to me all the time, but I usually go back and read what interests me. There is one newsletter (not on Substack) that I read religiously for links: Media Star. I begin each day by scrolling through it.
It is very discouraging that discovering books for many happens only via Booktok. (It depends on the generation and of course bookstores still count for a lot). However, the industry is leaning into this channel and not seeming to make many efforts to carve out other ways for readers to find books. I know BT has done good things and brought readers together but can't we create or promote other ways as well? And let's not forget this platform is Chinese owned and no one seems bothered by this point at all......SIGH.
I was thinking over the weekend about how it's been 10 years this spring since I was told by the president of a major sports industry brand that he couldn't justify creating a full-time position to handle social media. Now, sports and entertainment brands are hiring full-time positions titled "Vertical Video Specialist" (in addition to their more general social media positions) which is essentially a full-time TikTok creator for the brand. It's wild just how much TikTok has taken on a life of its own and reshaping/redefining the "social media" landscape for brands. Just because we don't understand or "get" it doesn't mean we shouldn't pay attention to it with curiosity and great respect. Ten years from now anyone shrugging off TikTok today is going to be a lot like my boss ten years ago who shrugged off social media as a short-term fad he didn't need to take too seriously or invest any time/money in.
Love your newsletter and these roundups, Kathleen! If you think it might interest your readers in a future roundup, I wrote up a piece about being an author at a Netflix movie premiere this weekend.
https://evelynskye.substack.com/p/what-happens-at-a-movie-premiere
Would love to interview you for my Substack if you have the time (and happy to return the gesture).
Really interesting stat re: record high backlist sales in 2023…says the person with half a dozen backlist titles, the bestselling of which went out of stock on Amazon over the holidays 🙃🙃🙃
If you think about it in terms of streaming, it makes sense: people are streaming older shows more than ever.
Yes, that makes sense. I just wish there was more $/effort being put into promoting backlist if it’s such a huge (and growing) percentage of overall sales. But I suppose the streaming services don’t really promote old shows; they just throw ‘em up there and assume people will find them.
Intersting link about the top 50 news sites. NJ.com!!!
Right? That was a surprise!
On one hand, I love that you've shared so much information, plus these all sound like great things to read! On the other, it's completely overwhelming to receive newsletters that link to a bunch of other cool stuff since it's hard enough to find time to read the original newsletters already!! It'll likely end up sitting in my inbox marked unread for months until I realize nope, it's not happening and click delete.
Please tell me this happens to other people too.
Happens to me all the time, but I usually go back and read what interests me. There is one newsletter (not on Substack) that I read religiously for links: Media Star. I begin each day by scrolling through it.
Sometimes I read a couple things, but I get way too many newsletters!
It is very discouraging that discovering books for many happens only via Booktok. (It depends on the generation and of course bookstores still count for a lot). However, the industry is leaning into this channel and not seeming to make many efforts to carve out other ways for readers to find books. I know BT has done good things and brought readers together but can't we create or promote other ways as well? And let's not forget this platform is Chinese owned and no one seems bothered by this point at all......SIGH.
I am going to write something soon about why publishers need to lean into their own platforms.
I agree with you about BookTok and Publishing....it is not going to end well. Very worrisome.
It is something that is often on my mind.