Large Publishing Houses Using Social Media

I recently came across a notice for Penguin USA’s new interactive website, and I must say, it looks good. However, I think they might have missed the point. Dubbed “From the Publisher’s Office,” the website includes vid/podcasts and “looks insides”, meaning a reader can read a few chapters of highlighted books. There’s only one problem— there’s no space for community building, for readers (customers) to interact with the publisher and with each other. There’s a spot for contacting someone via email, and as is becoming the norm, they feature live chats with authors. I know other publishers are trying to utilize various new media to help them promote themselves and their authors, but I don’t think that is all social media is about. At minimum, it’s a bout communicating. Using it as another promotional tool is a big waste of money and a lost opportunity to create relationships with readers.  Harper Collins Canada, for example, has a FaceBook group with more than 1,000 members. I’m one of them. And, while I don’t think the forum is super active, the folks behind the scenes are always sending out messages and are often responding to readers. Virago, in the UK, also has a fantastic website–and a fabulous list–but has so far limited itself to more traditional communication tools, such as a forum and email. I think it’s working.

I’m happy that publishers are able to reach audiences this way, but I also worry for the smaller presses who would have neither the money nor the people power to utilize social media in the way it should be managed. I think the smaller houses again lose out. The solution? I’m not certain, but if I worked in a small press, I’d be certain to write into my next grant application at least a part time new media position. The duties would include interaction with readers and book sellers, not only a web site developer.

Our Beyond the Book research concludes (or confirms earlier work) that readers seek and enjoy contact with authors. The data also shows that readers turn first to trusted others–friends and family– to choose the books they want to read. I think new media helps facilitate that process.

The Opposite of Love: A Review

I just finished another book to review for Random House (US), this time for a book from first-time novelist Julie Buxbaum. This is another one to add to your summer reading list. I wouldn’t recommend it for your reading group unless said group is comprised of women under the age of 35 and comprised of members who find it important to identify with characters. I say this not because I think the book is a “fluff” book–it’s not nor do I think young reading groups read fluff books–but because the characters in this book are strong and demand some analysis that comes best from people who are in the very prime of their careers and love lives. That, I think, is always done best over a glass or two of wine amongst good women reading friends.

You’ll fall in love with Emily, the main character in Opposite, and Ruth, her mentor. Both women work/ed in law. Emily is just beginning her career and learning that sometimes values get in the way of making money if you let them. Ruth, a retired judge, not only is a mean poker player, but she shows Emily that love and work are best approached by paying attention to both your head and your heart.

I felt as if I was in NYC while reading this book. Buxbaum paints the scenes vividly, which will come in handy for the screen writer who will (or has?) been commissioned to carry the book from print to screen. (I see that Twentith Century Fox has bought the movie rights.) The characters are well developed, from Grandpa Jack to the prodigal father, and extending to the shrink who dresses in wanna-be yoga guru chic. Edited well, the story flows nicely taking the reader from a few planned pages before bedtime to the middle of the night’s “damn, I’ve got to get up in a few hours!”

Review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Several years ago I expressed interest to Random House Publishing in NYC to read and recommend to my book club advanced copies of novels. I hadn’t received one for over a year, and then, out of the blue, they sent me a book I’ve been aching to read for pleasure and for my continuing work in studying book clubs. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

I usually get quite pissed off at the marketing copy that is obviously directed at ill-conceived notions of a women’s book club, but the letter sent with this book said “I hope that you and your book club enjoy discussing the complex characters that make up this charming novel.” Charming, indeed. But not in a way that is sappy or sloppy.

The book is set in post WWII London and the Channel Islands, specifically on Guernsey. The authors, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows– an aunt and niece team, tell the story of an eclectic group of readers who form a reading group to protect themselves from their German occupiers. Their story is told through letters between the various group members and an author who wants to write a book to tell their story. You might not like the style, but it usually works in teasing out historical information that you’ve never known before (have you ever heard about Todt workers? Me, either. They were slave labour used to work on engineering projects in occupied territories. Pretty grim picture.). You’ll get a sense, too, of the publishing industry at that time. Mostly, however, you’ll learn to really enjoy the various characters and all of their idiosyncrasies.

I’ve already recommended The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to my reading mates, and I recommend this book to you. It’s a must on your summer reading list.