This article from The New York Times, (article may or not be pay-walled) "Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, 'It's Unreliable,'" popped into my Twitter feed today, and it caught my eye because my initial reaction was "really?" Turns out that some big celebrities have gotten some big book deals, as in got paid a big advance, on the basis of having massive followings on places like Instagram, and well, the books have sold poorly. Publishers are learning that just because some celebrity has a big following it does not translate into book sales. Big following does not mean those rabid fans will read a book a celebrity spits out (or gets ghostwritten), assuming they even read at all.
Despite the unreliability, this is the situation:
"An author’s following has become a standard part of the equation when publishers are deciding whether to acquire a book. Followings can affect who gets a book deal and how big an advance that author is paid, especially when it comes to nonfiction."
And here is the part that I think not many people talk about or are really willing to admit:
"Or maybe the book isn’t that good."
It could be as simple as that. A lot of those celebrity books are just not that good, and more often than not are going to be remaindered fairly quick. In this day and age, there are a lot of books to choose from both new and back catalog titles, so if a book is not that good, well you move on and get a better book to read.
The article also points out that apparently TikTok, especially #BookTok (i.e. TikTokers who talk about books) are gaining influence. I am skeptical, but as the article points out now some publishers are actually picking up book proposals from TikTokers. That just reminds me of some years back when publishers were picking up book deals from bloggers turning their blog's content into books, fairly forgettable books I will add. Can anyone honestly name a book generated from a blog that has stood the test of time in any measure? I sure cannot, and I have reviewed one or two of them (I'd have to check the blog's archive to find them that's how forgettable they are).
In the end, it is not that social media is worthless. For the right book and author, it can help as the article points out, but for the most part the role of social media is very uncertain.
You know who often can help book sales? Librarians, especially public librarians who keep up with reading tastes in their communities and put books into people's hands. In addition, libraries do buy books, and if a patron likes a book, they often go out and buy a copy of their own to either keep or give as a gift to someone else. If you want to learn more, Rachel Kramer Bussel had a piece on just this topic a bit ago. In my case, I do my small part to promote books and reading with the reviews I do on this blog and what I share on social media. It's my small bit of reader's advisory.
And that's my two pennies.
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