Can Authors Get a Book Deal Without Social Media?
EPISODE SEVENTY FOUR
Must authors have tons of social media followers to be considered by book publishers? What are publishers specifically looking for? I've been bombarded with these questions for the past few weeks, so I figured we should talk about it! In this episode we will discuss what you need on the marketing and social media side of things to get the attention of a publisher.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Jenn dePaula: Hello, and welcome to the Book Marketing Simplified Podcast. I'm Jenn Hanson dePaula.
Marcus dePaula: I'm Marcus dePaula. We have another topic that's coming from another question you're getting a lot lately. Do I need to have a large social media following in order to get a publishing deal?
Jenn: This is a discussion that's happening a lot on social media. It's something that I am DMed, messaged all the time. There is a mindset among many authors that think that in order for their book to get out into the world, it has to be through a traditional publishing deal.
Marcus: Even to be considered an author, you have to have a publishing deal.
Jenn: Exactly. That is not the case. Thankfully, we live in a time that the veil that was between self-publishing and traditional publishing is disintegrated and going away.
Marcus: Thanks to the internet.
Jenn: Exactly. Many authors, it is their dream to be published through a traditional publisher. That's fantastic. There are some authors who just want to get their book out. They want to get things rolling, whether you're fiction, nonfiction, and self-publishing or getting help from people along the way to help you get your book published is essential.
Marcus: We don't want to get into the trade-offs that go on between choosing to be published or self-published.
Jenn: It is a very personal decision. It's something that every author needs to consider for themselves. There are questions that we can address in a future episode. There are companies like my dear friend, Elizabeth Lyons, who has Finfinius Press, who helps authors get the technical side of things set up with their book. They get formatted, uploaded to Amazon and all of the different outlets and stuff like that. There are ways for authors to actually get their book self-published or just through different means of connecting with experts that can help them along the way.
That being said, knowing what publishing path you want to take, you have options. When it comes to the marketing side, if you do want to be traditionally published, I've seen many posts recently from people feeling deflated or defeated in the fact that some people are saying that you need thousands and thousands of followers on social media to even be considered by a traditional publisher. There are two things that we need to focus on here. The first one is what happens for fiction authors and what's for nonfiction.
For nonfiction, yes, there is a tendency for traditional publishers to want authors to have a following. Does this mean that they have to have a specific number of followers on social media? I have seen some agents and some people say, yes, you need at least 10,000 followers. You need all this. I can say with full confidence that I have worked with multiple authors who have been signed with Penguin, who've been signed with HarperCollins, who have been signed with major publishers that I've had less than like a thousand followers.
Because they had some gravitas within their community, they had X amount of years and this type of specialty that they can speak into a certain topic, or they have important connections, or they have different things that connect them to various outlets that will connect them to their ideal readers. Does that rest on social media? No. When someone says that you have to have, let's say 10,000 followers on social media, there is no assurance that if someone has 10,000 followers, that those are genuine 10,000 ideal readers.
Those can be bought. Those can be manipulated within social media outlets. To say that it is all based on a number is gaslighting, in my personal opinion. When we say that you have to have a author platform, what we're talking about, it's not necessarily only centered on social media. What does that mean for you? Do you already have a network of speaking engagements? Do you already have X amount of years of experience in this topic that you're writing about?
Marcus: We're still talking about nonfiction.
Jenn: This is still nonfiction. Do you have extensive podcast interviews that you've done? Do you have these different connections? I do encourage authors, whether you're fiction or nonfiction, to have at least one social media outlet just to keep that door open because that is how people discover and discuss books.
Marcus: There's social proof there.
Jenn: Exactly. To say that a publishing deal solely rests on the number of followers is very misleading. If you're feeling deflated about that, if you're feeling discouraged, look at who you're already connected with and start growing from there. Start looking at creating social media posts that speak to your ideal reader. What are the problems that you can help them solve? What are the questions that you can answer? Start posting that content so that people can see, oh, this person is talking about what I'm looking for, and then that's how you get their attention.
There is a starting point that you can always go to. You can see who you're already connected with, and then you can start making more posts on social media. If you are concerned about timing, like let's say you're on a tight timeline or that you are talking about something in your book that is connected to a specific timeframe, traditional publishing might not be the best option because it can take years for your book to get out into the world. If it's, again, something that is time sensitive, then you'll want to look at other options.
Marcus: All right. What about fiction authors?
Jenn: If you're looking for a traditional deal, fiction is not centered solely on the number of social media followers. They are looking for the story. They're looking at the writing. They are looking at what is it that the marketplace is looking for, is searching for. They have certain genres that they know are really hot right now, or they know that books within a certain genre are highly sought.
Marcus: Market trends.
Jenn: Exactly. Are they hopeful that you have a fan base or that you're starting to begin to build that? Absolutely.
Marcus: It'll differentiate you from some other authors that might be competing for that same deal.
Jenn: Exactly. If you are writing fiction, starting to make these connections and starting to share with readers what it is you write about and your writing style, the storyline, the hook, all of that good stuff, it's definitely going to help you because I always tell authors it's a lot easier to sell your book when people are already paying attention. You are just helping yourself in the future and your future self will thank you for this, for starting to make these connections and to start to lay that groundwork.
With fiction, it's so much more about the story. That is something that does differentiate between fiction and nonfiction. If you are writing fiction and you're looking to get a book deal, focusing on that pitch, what it is that the book is about, but of course it does not hurt anything to say, yes, I have a very active social media presence. I have this engagement. I have this many people on my newsletter and I'm doing X, Y, and Z within my marketing. That never hurts.
Marcus: To be clear, we are not saying that there are not publishers out there that will say you have to have X amount of followers in order for us to sign you. We're just saying that you have options.
Jenn: Yes. Thank you for saying that because I don't want to throw a blanket. This is what every publisher does because it is different across the board. To say that if you write nonfiction, you have to have a certain number of followers is not true. Especially if you have an amazing book, if you have an amazing pitch, if you have all of these things going for you, if they are only saying, okay, well, if you have 20 years of experience in this topic and you do all this stuff, but oh, you don't have 10,000 followers, that's ludicrous.
Marcus: Honestly, if I was an author and put in that position, I probably wouldn't want to put my faith in that organization anyway, if that's what they're going to focus on.
Jenn: This might ruffle some feathers or this might get a little bit of backlash, but I really do stand by it. If a publisher is solely basing everything on a social media platform, what are they going to do for them?
Marcus: What's their marketing strategy?
Jenn: Isn't that part of what the publisher is "supposed to be doing"? Yes, I do believe that authors are the best marketers for their book.
Marcus: Exactly.
Jenn: I do believe that when we can put that effort into building our "author platform", that does not only mean social media, but if you know who your ideal reader is, how you want to connect with them, where they're hanging out. For example, I've worked with some business executives who have very high-level clientele, that is who their book is speaking to. These high-level CEOs or other people aren't hanging out on Instagram.
They might be on LinkedIn, but they're listening to podcasts. They're going to conferences. They're doing other things. If a publisher is looking at a high-level CEO who is writing this book to reach other high-level CEOs and beyond, and they're saying, oh, you need to be on Instagram, that's not going to make as much sense. It's more about the "platform" that you're building. Who is it that you are trying to connect with and where are they hanging out and being there instead of being where they're not hanging out?
Marcus: If you're looking for help in getting your book out there, there are other options than just signing with a publisher, first and foremost. Secondly, another little side note that I'm hearing you say is being aware, whether it's an agent or publisher, that it's a good fit for who you are uniquely as an author, who your unique audience is, then also what your book is about, what your story is, and finding those people that aren't going to try to impose some formula that might not work for your unique situation.
Jenn: Absolutely.
Marcus: Like you said, whether you're traditionally published or not, your book sales will benefit from you being as active as possible in connecting with your readers, whether it's online or offline. As an author, you need to have a strategy to find your readers and then to create content that connects with them.
Jenn: If you're looking for help with that, I have a free Book Marketing blueprint that you can download. You can go to Jenndepaula.com or go to the show notes to grab your copy and this is going to help you begin to set up your foundation so that you can successfully market your books.
Marcus: Jenn continues to get great questions from you, so keep them coming. We will address them in future episodes of the podcast.
Jenn: Absolutely. Talk to you later.