Submitted by Philip Jones on Tue, 07/15/2014 -The Bookseller
Publishing is all too often, and all too easily, lambasted for all the things it does not do. But we should also acknowledge what has been happening. What publishers have been trying out and in what areas these initiatives have been working. 2014 has already been a sobering year for the business, with the loss of two redoutable indies (both scooped up by Hachette), and a continuing decline in sales of physical books (albeit at a slowing rate). But it has also been a year of innovation, with projects coming from a range of businesses that show-case how publishers are adjusting to this new environment and using the new tools on offer to their advantage.
There is a shrill debate taking place about publishing, prompted by the Hachette/Amazon negotiations, that seems far removed from the reality on the ground for many publishers and authors. I list ten projects below, which I think hint at a more accurate picture, but there are others, and I'd be delighted to hear from anyone else working across the business who wants to tell their innovations story on FutureBook.net. The best thing about the list below is how many of these idea don't come from a top-down or big-bang approach, but from people within publishing innovating and iterating.
1) The Twitter story redux. As The Bookseller reported yesterday novelist David Mitchell has begun to tell a 6,000-word story on Twitter. The idea was his own after first being persuaded to sign up to Twitter by his publisher. Mitchell now has more than 11k followers. His new book The Bone Clocks (h/b, £20) will be published on 2nd September, as part of a season of new fiction that includes books by Ian McEwan, David Nicholls, Ali Smith, Kate Mosse, and Michel Faber. Mitchell isn’t the first author to live tweet a story, but in engaging and growing his fan-base ahead of his September publication, he and his publisher are demonstrating how social media can be used to ramp up the publicity. As George Walkley, head of digital at Hachette UK, said: "There's a wider digital opportunity about how we use Facebook and Twitter to connect authors and readers. As we look at our publication, and look at pre-orders, it's a great chance for David not just to tell a story but also tell a global audience that there is a new novel coming in September."
2) Virtual festivals. HarperCollins’ first virtual Romance Festival, organised by my former colleague Sam Missingham. HC is one of the biggest romance publishers in the UK, but the really smart thing was to make it publisher agnostic, allowing Harper to invite authors and publisher voices from across the spectrum. The festival, which ran across the weekend (7th and 8th June), notched up over six thousand engaged users on Facebook, while the designated Twitter hashtag #Romance14 was tweeted nearly 4,509 times, with a potential reach put at 17.9 million timelines. More than 120 authors, including Bella Andre, Barbara Freethy and Sheila O'Flanagan, were involved in events such as Google Hangouts and Twitter interviews. Across social media, thousands of readers took part, with 6,400 engaged users on Facebook, calculated at a total reach of 75,000 people. Missingham has since said he hopes to run similar festivals for “crime, fantasy, teen and possibly some other areas too”. In June Gollancz announced a one-day multi-media science fiction and fantasy festival at Waterstones Piccaddilly, featuring authors including Joanne M Harris, Ben Aaronovitch and Patrick Rothfuss. The event will include readings and panels at the shop, with activities also taking place across platforms including Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube.
There is a shrill debate taking place about publishing, prompted by the Hachette/Amazon negotiations, that seems far removed from the reality on the ground for many publishers and authors. I list ten projects below, which I think hint at a more accurate picture, but there are others, and I'd be delighted to hear from anyone else working across the business who wants to tell their innovations story on FutureBook.net. The best thing about the list below is how many of these idea don't come from a top-down or big-bang approach, but from people within publishing innovating and iterating.
1) The Twitter story redux. As The Bookseller reported yesterday novelist David Mitchell has begun to tell a 6,000-word story on Twitter. The idea was his own after first being persuaded to sign up to Twitter by his publisher. Mitchell now has more than 11k followers. His new book The Bone Clocks (h/b, £20) will be published on 2nd September, as part of a season of new fiction that includes books by Ian McEwan, David Nicholls, Ali Smith, Kate Mosse, and Michel Faber. Mitchell isn’t the first author to live tweet a story, but in engaging and growing his fan-base ahead of his September publication, he and his publisher are demonstrating how social media can be used to ramp up the publicity. As George Walkley, head of digital at Hachette UK, said: "There's a wider digital opportunity about how we use Facebook and Twitter to connect authors and readers. As we look at our publication, and look at pre-orders, it's a great chance for David not just to tell a story but also tell a global audience that there is a new novel coming in September."
2) Virtual festivals. HarperCollins’ first virtual Romance Festival, organised by my former colleague Sam Missingham. HC is one of the biggest romance publishers in the UK, but the really smart thing was to make it publisher agnostic, allowing Harper to invite authors and publisher voices from across the spectrum. The festival, which ran across the weekend (7th and 8th June), notched up over six thousand engaged users on Facebook, while the designated Twitter hashtag #Romance14 was tweeted nearly 4,509 times, with a potential reach put at 17.9 million timelines. More than 120 authors, including Bella Andre, Barbara Freethy and Sheila O'Flanagan, were involved in events such as Google Hangouts and Twitter interviews. Across social media, thousands of readers took part, with 6,400 engaged users on Facebook, calculated at a total reach of 75,000 people. Missingham has since said he hopes to run similar festivals for “crime, fantasy, teen and possibly some other areas too”. In June Gollancz announced a one-day multi-media science fiction and fantasy festival at Waterstones Piccaddilly, featuring authors including Joanne M Harris, Ben Aaronovitch and Patrick Rothfuss. The event will include readings and panels at the shop, with activities also taking place across platforms including Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube.
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