Promoting books has changed a lot over the last few years and 2013 will be no exception. Here is what I predict will happen in book marketing in 2013.
This post is part of a series.
See:
15 Publishing Industry Predictions for 2013 and
2013 Reading Trends for more predictions.
As always, we would like to hear from you. Post what you think 2013 will hold in the comments.
1. More Cheap Author Website Options
There will be an increase in medium priced authors website options in the $500 – $1500 range. These will be WordPress themes and website platforms specifically designed for Authors.
2. Explosion of Supplementary Materials
Publishers will start demanding that authors write short stories and other bonus materials to be used in marketing. Authors will also be expected to save all their research and supplementary materials.
3. Membership Site Proliferation
There will be a proliferation in book marketing membership sites like the Bestseller Society. If you are reading a publishing guru’s blog today, you will get an invite to join their membership site sometime in 2013.
4. New WordPress Bookstore Plugin Will Revolutionize How Author’s Sell Books Online
Here at Author Media we are working on an exciting new plugin that will make listing your books for sale on your website much easier. I predict that this plugin will be our fastest selling product in 2013.
5. GoodReads Growth and Improvement
GoodReads.com will continue to experience massive growth after rolling out an easier to use interface.
6. Twitter to Fall in Popularity Amongst Authors
Twitter will decline in popularity amongst authors as they realize they are mostly talking to each other and not to readers.
7. Google+ Boom
Google+ Live Hangouts will become a required part of every effective book launch strategy. Look for an explosion in Google+ online launch parties.
8. Massive Wave of Authors Converting from Facebook Personal Pages to Business “Fan” Pages
Authors will realize how counter productive personal “friend” pages are to book marketing. We will see a flood of converted pages in 2013.
I’m surprised by the comment about Twitter. Those who follow you on Twitter or read certain posts do so based on their interests. All the top-selling indie authors I know, and I find this to be true with my sales, get 99% of their sales and new readers (and reviews) via Twitter. People interested in reading mysteries will look at #mystery. authors don’t just follow and chat with authors. In face, with my 30k or so followers and the tens of thousands of tweets I do, I don’t communicate with other authors. I engage with readers and potential readers, bloggers, and reviewers. Facebook is where people hang with their friends, talk about food and trivial things, and where authors chat with their author friends. that’s not where readers looking for a new book to read will go. You don’t get sales or fans on Facebook–at least not like you do on Twitter. So just wanted to put in my two cents. I spend maybe 5-10 minutes a day, at most, on Facebook, but at least an hour or two on Twitter. In one month, when I went from 2,000 followers to 21,000, my print books sales increased 1,000%. I think that should say something for Twitter 🙂
Question: This week I was told by my brother and son, who are both in music, art and production, and very tech savvy, that Facebook actually now owns anything we post to it. They have stopped using it for marketing and suggested I reconsider as well. It seems that if my blog posts and photos that post to Facebook are now the property of FB, I wouldn’t want to put anything of value on it anymore. Recently, I’ve found a sharp decline in likes and posts read off FB. I’ve tried both my regular account and a fan page, but still don’t find the traffic I once had from that avenue. My readership is growing, but it no longer seems to be in direct correlation to FB. More seems to come from Twitter at present, but I don’t find much from that avenue or spend a lot of time there either. I trust your knowledge of the field. What are your thoughts?
I believe you nailed it, Thomas! Great insight about #3
To Laura Bennett: It is my understanding, too, that if you post a picture to FB that their “fine print” says that it is thereafter their property. I can see this happening with non-copywritten images such as folks post from their cameras or phones. But I do not, frankly, understand how their can claim ownership on any basis for copywritten material such as book cover images, logos, etc.
Yes! Finally someone writes about domain.