Social media is one of the tools book publishers need to have in their Web 2.0 arsenal. Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Gather not only draw millions of visitors, they also provide those visitors with a platform to converse and connect around shared interests and passions. On Gather (www.Gather.com), which President and COO Carl Rosendorf describes as “MySpace for grown-ups,” “Books” is one of 11 “essential” channels that visitors can navigate to find content and conversation of interest. Gather’s “Books” group boasts more than 45,000 members, who read, contribute and/or comment on original content such as book reviews, articles and live chats.
“What makes the Gather experience so unique is not the original posted content [such as a book review], because that you can find almost anywhere,” says Rosendorf. “What makes it so unique is the resulting conversation between the members themselves, and many times, between the member and the author.”
Rosendorf offered the following tips and examples on how book publishers can use social media to involve and expand their audiences.
1. Create a fun, engaging contest. “Generally, we create the concept [for the contest],” says Rosendorf, who notes that these contests can be simple or complex, and can focus on a specific imprint, genre or title. “We work with the publisher and get a sense of what their goals are.”
One of Gather’s most well-known competitions is First Chapters, which the site devised with Simon & Schuster imprint Touchstone and Borders (http://FirstChapters.Gather.com). When it launched in January, First Chapters called on first-time authors to submit manuscripts for a full-length work of fiction. Tens of thousands of Gather members narrowed the pool from 2,700 entries down to five by voting on the first chapters of each manuscript. Then, a “Grand Prize Judging Panel” chose the winners from the finalists. The panel surprisingly chose two winners instead of the originally intended one, and both books were published by Touchstone in September. “[The competition] was covered in The New York Times, on CNN. It was picked up all over the world by the [Associated Press]. It generated tremendous excitement,” says Rosendorf.
2. Create a social media group for your company, a specific imprint or a specific title. As Rosendorf explains, your focus can be as broad or as narrow as you choose. He also notes that publishers can sponsor groups for a limited time or indefinitely, depending on their needs. Anyone can create a group for free on Gather; however, for a fee, “Gather is willing … to provide all the marketing and promotion services … if [the publisher] doesn’t have the resources to do it themselves.”
Regardless of whether or not the publisher pays to create its group, it is the publisher’s responsibility to provide the initial content for the site, such as articles or book giveaways, and to organize authors’ participation, such as in live chats. While the publisher rarely participates in the ensuing conversation among members, the authors are highly encouraged to do so.
“This isn’t a site for marketing people to provide marketing [materials]. This is a site around content and bringing people [together who are] connecting to that content,” notes Rosendorf. “… This is providing an author the opportunity to reach out, communicate and connect with their fans literally around the world … [and also to] reach out beyond their fan base by leveraging the social networking functionality.”
3. Create a social media group on a topic area in which you have a particular expertise. For example, DK Publishing, which publishes many books on pregnancy and parenting, noticed that a lot of parents were using Gather and decided to sponsor a parenting group on the site (http://Parenting.Gather.com). The group currently has more than 3,000 members.
“[Publishers can] create a group [such as DK’s parenting group] that features their content, authors, new books [and] engages conversation … as a means to drive greater attention and a wider audience to their books,” says Rosendorf. “[By doing this, the publisher creates] a broader umbrella for themselves.”
4. Send advance copies of your books to social media sites for members to review. When Gather receives advance copies of books, they will solicit members to read those books and write reviews for the site. According to Rosendorf, sometimes the site will post a notice asking members to volunteer to write a review, or sometimes they will actively seek out a member to write a review. “We are readers of our site, and we know who writes well on what subject and who has the most connections,” he says. “So if we know there’s a great writer on the Civil War who has 500 or 1,000 connections, and we get a book on the Civil War, we’re going to track down that member and ask if they’ll do a review.” Connections are important because, on Gather, when a member posts content or even a comment, all of their connections are notified. “… People are very likely to visit content of one of their connections,” says Rosendorf. “When [a member] writes [a book review,] we already have an audience for that content. That’s the benefit to the publisher.”
Not All Social Media Is Created Equal
Rosendorf is the first to admit that Gather––which is geared toward 30- to 60-year-olds and emphasizes thoughtful, in-depth discussions––will not meet all publishers’ needs. He offers the following tips for determining which social media site is right for you.
5. Start with demographics. Most social media sites are targeted to specific age groups. Determine who you want to reach, and which site will provide you with that particular audience.
6. Determine what you are trying to accomplish on the site. “If they are trying to reach an audience [to] have a thoughtful discussion, then Gather is perfect for them,” says Rosendorf. “If they want more of a promotional site, that’s not Gather.”
7. Research the site’s social networking functionality and features. How are members able to connect and interact with one another on the site? For example, on Gather, a member’s connections are notified any time they post content or comments. “This is what differentiates us [from other social media sites],” says Rosendorf.