Innovative Ways Of Building Community Around Books

Book publishers vary widely in their use of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest, according to research Blogads assembled in advance of its February 15 #SMWNYC panel on book publishers and social media.

Scholastic has done the most on Facebook. Randomhouse dominates on Twitter. Only three publishers are on Pinterest, the photo curation service popular with women, and five are on Tumblr, a blogging service.

The State of Book Publishers' Social Media (An overview from January 2012)












There is a noticeable correlation between the number of tweets per day or per month and the number of followers (correlation coefficient is about ~0.62). Publishers who tweet a lot have more followers than publishers who are less active which makes sense!








Please join us in NYC for our book panel: Innovative Ways Of Building Community Around Books! Sign up here.

Hosted by Blogads.com at The Gershwin Hotel Wednesday, February 15 at 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Publishers and authors are increasingly connecting to their audiences in innovative ways through new social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest and book-based social networks. Join four publishing industry marketers as they discuss specific ways social media is helping them promote books — and what the changes may mean for publishers, authors and readers.

Speakers:
Miriam Parker, Little, Brown, and Company
Emily Lyman, Crown Publishing
Ryan Chapman, FSG
Guinevere de la Mare, Chronicle Books
Henry Copeland, Blogads

Comic books and graphic novels delve into digital

Comic book visionaries are bringing their favorite characters to the iPad, in a multitude of ways, according to TrendCentral:

DC Comics’ Same Day Digital, now releases digital versions of their comics simultaneously with print editions. Available for iOS devices, Android handsets, and PCs, the comics are initially priced the same as the printed books ($2.99), but drop by $1.00 after four weeks. DC timed its digital launch with The New 52, a reboot of 52 iconic characters with updated stories, costume redesigns and a series reset to issue #1.

Chris Ware’s new work, Touch Sensitive, is a 99-cent comic available within the free McSweeney’s app -- which is great way to connect with a specific audience. Available only on the iPad, the 14 swipe-able pages of art and animation feature Ware’s trademark social commentary, contemporary layout, and annular characters.

And digital comics leader IDW Publishing, who offers several comic storefront apps, now has the largest collection of graphic novels available in the iBooks store to date. Titles include Dead Space, Dragon Age, and G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds, all of which utilize the new fixed-layout ePub format, for $6-$10 a pop.

Do you enjoy digesting comics digitally?

20 re-imagined book covers from Flavorwire

Under the influence of characters, setting, and plot, a number of artists have recreated book covers of some of the most beloved literature. Check out 20 of Flavorwire's top picks inspired by the likes of J.D Salinger, The Brothers Grimm and Roald Dahl here.

Borrow Kindle books from your library

File this under "A" for "Amazing" or "Amazon." You can now check out a Kindle book from your local library by grabbing it from their website (already 11,000 libraries are down with the program) and read it on any generation Kindle device or free Kindle reading app. Don't worry, when you borrow a Kindle public library book, you'll still have access to all the unique features of Kindle books. And after it expires, if you check it out again or choose to purchase it from the Kindle store, all of your annotations and bookmarks will be preserved!

Your bed time story just got 100 times cooler

The Infinite Adventure Machine (prototype 01) from David Benqué on Vimeo.

You've got to check out this bedtime story ipad app being funded by Microsoft (called Infinite Adventure Machine). The creators set out to explore the links between imagination and computation. Tales and myths; the core narratives of human culture, have been transmitted for generations through various technologies and media. So they were curious about what new forms might they take through digital formats and artificial intelligence.

This app takes 31 different narrative elements from tons of fairytales to initiate story plots. The user then uses their imagination to fill in the details, or can reload the page for another story plot. Is it really a bedtime story app if you never want to go to sleep?

(Via @brandflakes)

Check out a "living book"

In an effort to combat budget cuts and ebooks, City Centre Library in Surrey, British Columbia, which is scheduled to open next month, has created the first ever "living books" program.

Basically in addition to bound volumes, the library will also provide residents with access to people. The librarian staff will maintain a list of local residents who have volunteered to share their knowledge of any topic, and other library patrons can make appointments for 30-45-minute conversations.

According to Good.is, librarian Ravi Basi told CTV British Columbia that the Surrey library staff initially imagined the living books initiative as a way to break down barriers between people of different races or religions, but people with interesting careers, life experiences, or academic research topics would make good volunteers as well.

The library is connecting local neighbors in a social atmosphere and advocating for open-knowledge sharing. My only question is how long until this hits the US?

A new kind of ink book

McSweeney's brand new children's imprint has a book coming out in December that you'll want to get your hands on- literally. Remember those cool hypercolor tshirts you wore when you were in elementary school that changed color when you touched them? Well, the book equivalent has been created!

Keep Our Secrets by Jordan Crane will be printed with thermally-activated color-changing ink that lets kids discover hidden illustrations as the heat from their fingers rubbing the pages causes some ink layers to become transparent (check out the video below). It's a fun way to encourage children to learn and explore on their own.

In an industry ripe for innovation, we're seeing some exciting changes recently. Push Pop Press, acquired earlier this year by Facebook set out to re-imagine books on the iPad. Now we've got a publisher re-inventing the wheel with a hard-cover. How would you change books to enhance the way we interact with them?

Innovative University Press giving away installments

I read this morning that The University of Michigan Press is hoping to entice Facebook members into purchasing two new releases this summer by posting installments from each novel on the press’s Facebook page over the next eight weeks. Their reason for doing so is that the books are by two authors whom “people might not recognize"- and the giveaway introduces these authors' work to readers who might otherwise not want to take a risk on them.

I've seen a lot of publishing folks worry about giving away content (what if readers copy/paste or modify? where will it end up? which part do we give away? etc), but frankly I think this is a great move.

What better way to interest people in a book, than by offering a sneak peak within the cover. Then you're not just telling people what they're going to get, they can see for themselves. And if they like it, they can easily share it with their friends. Like anything else, I'm sure installment giveaways work best for certain books. It's important to take the time to find the right chapters to promote, and also to track how many people are reading, sharing, and then purchasing.

Keep it free though! "Content has a higher chance of being downloaded and shared with peers if it is free – A study that David Meerman Scott conducted showed that the ratio is 50:1 for free downloads vs form downloads," Wordviewediting.com. Based on that evidence, I'd say publishers should be making the content easily accessible- not requiring registration, or even "liking" the press' fanpage. As Seth Godin has pointed out before 'registration for content’ feels more like a transaction, causing people to expect both sides to be of equal value, so you have a chance of disappointing. However free content is more like a gift.

Readers are already used to this treatment. Amazon lets you preview a chapter or two of most books. If you're not thinking about offering free content, you'd better start thinking!

Penguin audio book ads- well done

I Believe in Advertising is featuring very unique and intriguing poster ads for Penguin Audio today. Beautifully illustrated classics, in an ear canal- simple yet gets the point across.

How many can you name?

A lot of the greats pictured here! So cute!

10 awesome literary Tumblrs

Check out:
1.) http://iheartclassics.tumblr.com/
written by Sterling Publishing- They curate the classics so you don’t have to…mixing modern culture and classic lit. The classics are more relevant than you think!
2.) http://irisblasi.tumblr.com/
written by Iris Blasi- Coordinator of Digital Media for literary public relations firm Hilsinger-Mendelson East. Formerly an editor. Forever a reader.
3.) http://literarynerd.tumblr.com/
written by Kylie- Literature. Reading. Writing. Films. Craft. Design. Fashion. Travel. Adventure. Joy. Life.
4.) http://vintageanchor.tumblr.com/
written by Vintage/Anchor (Knopf Doubleday)- From Classic to Contemporary—The Best Books in Paperback.
5.) http://bookmania.tumblr.com/
written by Archie- Book Mania is an inspirational blog celebrating the amazing power of reading. It mainly features books & excerpts of various masterpieces published around the world. Aside from those, it likewise posts images of the world’s most beautiful premiere libraries, bookshelves, bookshops & cool book stuff.
6.) http://prettybooks.tumblr.com/
written by Stacey- The Pretty Books blog mainly involves sharing photos of beautiful books but I also frequently post book reviews, quotations, recommendations, discussions, and articles.
7.) http://bookshelfporn.com/
written by Anthony Dever- Porn for book lovers. A photo blog collection of all the best bookshelf photos from around the world for people who *heart* bookshelves.
8.) http://cinderellainrubbershoes.tumblr.com/ (Love the background and all the added features- good use of "ask me anything" and she connects her other sites, goodreads, etc to her page) written by just another girl who successfully wriggles out of the rabbit hole of college and is now trekking the Wonderland of literature and journalism.
9.) http://www.somewhereoverthesun.com/ (Good use of tabs at the top linking to places to purchase the book, and includes some customer reviews as posts)
written by Adi Alsaid- Thoughts about writing.
10.) http://betterbooktitles.com/
written by Dan Wilbur- This blog is for people who do not have thousands of hours to read book reviews or blurbs or first sentences. I will cut through all the cryptic crap, and give you the meat of the story in one condensed image. Now you can read the greatest literary works of all time in mere seconds!

What's your favorite author, book, or literature related Tumblr?

10 ways authors should use Tumblr

Why use Tumblr as an author?

*Reach a new demographic and interest them with your material: In the U.S. Tumblr's audience tends to be younger — 56% of the service’s 25.2 million monthly visitors are under 34, and users skew slightly more male (52%). If that sounds like your average reader, you may want to give it a go!

*Tumblr has built-in networking elements that lets you tap into its community.

*It is very fast and easy to get short-form content onto your Tumblelog including video, images, quotes, etc. You can use bookmarklets, mobile apps, phone posting, IM submissions and other tools to post content.

*You can use Tumblr as your main blog, or use it to lead traffic to your real blog.

A few pointers for setting up your Tumblr:

*Use detailed description text for your profile information- make it consistent with your other online profiles

*Spend time selecting a "theme" that meshes well with your internet presence (use the same logo across everything / develop a color palette)

*Cross pollinate – list or link to your blog, Twitter, and Facebook profile urls

10 things you should do on Tumblr:

1.) Make sure you use “tags." When you put together a post, type in a few tags in the "tag" box on the right (these are similar to Twitter's hashtags; you're just indicating what topics your post involves so people can more easily find it)

2.) Find and follow topics and other blogs you enjoy by going to “explore tumblr” or typing a word into the search box on the right (from your dashboard). A good channel to follow is: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/lit

3.) Favorite other people’s posts (by clicking on the heart icon on the post). The blogger who made the post will get a notification that you indicated their post as a favorite and may start following your blog.

4.) Reblog other people's posts that are relevant to you and your fans. This will help keep your content exciting and these folks will get a notification that you reblogged their post and may start following your blog.

5.) Post only truncated/short posts, or posts that slightly differ from your main site's content.

6.) Tumblr is a very visual network, try to use attractive images that capture attention and will stand out from other posts.

7.) Keep it fun- share cool bookmarks you've found, book tshirts you like, the latest book you enjoyed reading, an article about publishing you can relate to, etc.

8.) Include the "ask" feature on your page, and engage folks with questions in your posts.

9.) Post a contest, which can easily be reblogged.

10.) Include an "about" page where readers can learn more about you, and your books.

The Kindle Million Club gets a new member

Today, Amazon announced that self-published author John Locke, has sold over 1 million books using Kindle Direct Publishing becoming the first independently published author inducted into the “Kindle Million club.” Current members of the "club" include authors like Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Suzanne Collins and Michael Connelly.

Locke, the international best-selling author of seven Donovan Creed novels, all of which have made the Amazon/Kindle Top 20 Best Seller's List, has published nine total works including: “Vegas Moon,” “Wish List,” “A Girl Like You,” and “Saving Rachel.”

Tech Crunch sums up the situation well, "Taking a look at Locke’s works (i.e. Now & Then, which pictures a half-naked woman on the cover), it looks like he may not be in line for a Pulitzer, but the milestone is impressive for an independent author."

Awesome takeover for Bloodmoney

I love these high impact units- they don't obstruct anything on the site from readers' view, yet there's still no way to miss them. W.W.Norton & Company, Inc just ran a really cool skin and banner ads on Powerline for Bloodmoney with us (blogads) on Friday. From the author of the best-selling Body of Lies and The Increment: in a tragedy of revenge, the CIA falls victim to its own daring operation in the Middle East. Check out the book and contact us to learn more about how you can run a skin!

The most practical bookmark

New age meets old.

10 ways authors should use their Facebook fanpage

1.) Draw your blog's RSS feed into your fanpage with apps like Social RSS

2.) Show off your book trailer videos or live interviews with the Youtube app

3.) Update with tour info, like location and dates by creating an event. After the event, post your photos in an album on the page.

4.) Expand your network by inviting friends to become fans with a note explaining what value the page will provide, and a link to it.

5.) Encourage folks who land on the page to like it, by creating and implementing a specific landing page, asking them to do so, and giving them something (like a free book chapter) in return. Check out Facebook for Business's fanpage for an example.

6.) "Like" other pages to help build your community.

7.) Hold contests and giveaways.

8.) Include links in the "about" box to places where your books can be purchased.

9.) Respond fast to comments folks leave. When fans are engaging you, it's a good sign!

10.) Ask questions, start discussions and create polls (ex. asking your fans to vote on a topic they'll care about).

10 ways authors can treat their Twitter followers well

1.) Give your followers a shout out by recommending them on #followfriday and #writerwednesday (if they too are authors). And retweet their updates any day, if you relate.
2.) Teach your followers something. Explain the best way to start an outline, to query an agent, how to advertise your book, how to price your ebook, etc.
3.) Give away free books or bookmarks.
4.) Make them laugh. People are on Twitter to be entertained. Nothing captures attention, like something humorous.
5.) Hold contests- for example, literature trivia.
6.) Update with information you've not made available elsewhere- like a tour location you just booked.
7.) Connect your followers with each other- make introductions.
8.) Invite your followers to a chat/discussion around a certain topic, with a specific hashtag everyone can follow.
9.) Give your followers control, let them determine where your next reading will be, or what the name of the next chapter should be.
10.) Spice it up, include pictures (maybe use a popular service like Instagram), ask questions, let them know a personal life detail or two.

Crowdsourced funding for books

A new UK start-up is on the publishing scene, called Unbound, and it's a model worth examining. I'm curious to see how many successful books they're able to launch, and if a singular genre ends up taking off.

Basically Unbound is a program for creating new books, where in folks can pledge money towards publishing titles they enjoy; if the goal amount is raised, the book gets made. It's sort of a combination of Threadless (i.e. focuses on only one product type- books, and only the things the crowd likes actually get made) with Kickstarter and IndieGoGo (i.e. individual people pledge funds towards making the writer's dream happen, get rewards in return, and each writer has their own book page, video, etc.).

It looks like the "rewards" for every book are exactly the same though, which is one difference from Kickstarter's platform. The rewards range from a digital copy of the book to a launch lunch party. This makes the pledging based more on individual's desire for that specific writing style/author than their interest in a unique gift offering-- allowing the authors to concentrate on their true craft- writing.

If the books don't receive enough pledges, they don't get made- the most "successful" campaign posted thus far has only reached 3% of its goal but it has 46 days left, so fear not, perhaps. I read on Adpulp that campaigns with videos raise more money, according to IndiegGoGo and so far all the books featured have made videos, a pitch, an excerpt, and bios.

A unique feature to Unbound is the promoter opportunity. Unbound will reward you with 1 credit (£1) for every supporter you have referred when the books target is met. It's their way to encourage you to do their marketing.

I'm curious what % of the total money raised Unbound receives. I think Kickstarter takes a 5% fee.

Currently Unbound is only adding projects for authors with proven track records, but it looks like they hope to expand and increase their diversity of offerings-- taking submissions from "the public at large."

So at a basic level Unbound plucked a category off of Kickstarter and had a go at it. I'd like to see a similar concept executed for records/CDs. Actually speaking of music, I'd also like to see a platform like this that allows you to basically petition your favorite band to come perform in your area. Does something like either of those already exist?

How do you think Unbound will fair?

Find your book campaign

An adorable new print poster campaign is out for Gandhi Bookstores featuring little red riding hood, samsa and alice in wonderland. The campaign encourages you to "Find your book." Everyone has a favorite book they relate to, and this campaign captures that desire-- to put yourself in the shoes of the main character and delve into a new world. Illustrator Ricardo Salamanca really brings the concept to life with his deep detailed images. This is something I could even picture on a child's bedroom wall, which means they've provided real value to the consumer. Beautiful!

Now if I could just look like a book....

Ever awoken wishing you smelled more like a book? No? Me neither. But, the good news is, you can, if you so desire.

Karl Lagerfeld the eccentric creative director at Chanel and Fendi, has developed a new fragrance called Paper Passion, which will smell like books. He's not the first though, as perfumes like Demeter Fragrance Library Paperback, Opus II Library Collection Eau De Parfum by Amouage, have been around for quite some time. Though at $325 a pop, I'd prefer to spend a day in the library for free, hoping to absorb the fumes, rather than spray them on me.