Building A Social Hive

Rachel Fershleiser
Literary Community Organizer, Tumblr
13. Be Genuine
First, get on Tumblr, obviously! And, while you’re there or on any social media channel, talk like a real person, not like a robot. The idea is to be genuine and genuinely helpful.

14. Get Plugged In
It’s easier to plug into communities that already exist on social media than start your own community from scratch, so target people and groups you think will be genuinely interested in the books you’re talking about.

15. Be Valuable
In terms of content, make sure it’s something people will be excited to share, something that has a clear voice and point of view. Whoever is posting on your social media channels, give them the keys and let them run with it!

Julie Buntin
Director of Programs & Strategic Outreach,
Council of Literary Magazines and Presses
16. Tweet From the Heart
This might sound like something of a no-brainer, but the first key thing is that publishers publish work they care deeply about, which most of our publishers do. They’re not publicity assistants at Random House with a bunch of titles to plug on a massive twitter feed—they’re people who are very engaged with every book they publish, and their social media accounts reflect that passion and knowledge.

17. Show Passion, Not Pomp
Take a look at the Graywolf Press Twitter account [to the right]. They’re not bots digesting and spitting out company news, they’re people who spend every single day wading through manuscripts, reading books they love, and facing the challenges unique to the indie publishing community. They have an online identity that carries over into bookstores, and into how readers feel about their work. The National Book Award tweet is notable—it congratulates Mary Szybist first, rather than making immediate mention of the fact that Graywolf is the publisher.