Ever since social media appeared in the mid-2000s, publishers and authors (and marketers) have argued about whether social media actually sells books.
I thought this was an open-and-shut case, but every so often it has to be re-litigated.
YES, social media sells books. See what’s happening on TikTok for the most recent example of how and why.
But does an author’s personal social media following sell books?
Often. Usually. But not magically without any effort whatsoever.
Which brings me to the New York Times article published yesterday about celebrity-authored books that aren’t selling all that well. It’s titled: Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, ‘It’s Unreliable.’
Is it really unreliable? Or is it publishers falling asleep at the wheel? Or is it the case of not-so-great books being published and no one wanting them?
There’s a lot of context missing from the article—things we don’t know about what’s happening behind the scenes marketing-wise.
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 