The Impact of Book Influencers on the Publishing Industry

The prevalence of book influencers on social media has taken the publishing industry by storm. What is the role of a Bookstagrammer or BookToker? Has is their influence impacting publishing? And should writers and authors build relationships and friendships with these social media influencers?

(Designing the Best Book Cover)

In the eighth episode of season three of the Writer's Digest Presents podcast, content editor Michael Woodson interviews three book influencers about their place in the publishing industry.

"At the end of the day, reviews are for readers, they're not for authors. So, authors don't need to be in those review spaces, and I think publishers need to understand that people are embracing honesty. They're not just going to buy into—one of my least favorite phrases is "over-hyped," because to me, how would I describe what that is? Because what's over hyped for someone may be just the right amount of hype to get them to buy it. But, it's not going to be for everyone, and that's OK. As long as you're honest and respectful in your reviews without inviting the author into that space where they could potentially get offended or have their feelings hurt for a moment, that should be celebrated and championed."—Chip Pons, @booksovrbros

"There are a lot of times where publishers create these deadlines or they're asking for reviews on things, and it's just like, I'm doing this for free. I'm doing this for fun. Why are you putting all this pressure on me as if it doesn't require time and effort for me to really read and enjoy a book? Allow readers the opportunity to really enjoy the books that they're sending them without all this added pressure and deadlines for things that I'm doing willingly.—Dawnshaeé Reid, @introtoeclecticism

"Just because we didn't like [a book], it doesn't mean it was inherently bad or what we're going to say about it is 'negative.' I do think that's a little bit of a harsh term. It is a really interesting space and I wonder if we all consume bookstagram in a different way from someone who isn't super involved in the industry. Because we probably all follow a lot of publishers and bookstagrammers exclusively, so I feel like I a lot of times see a lot of the same titles, especially around Tuesdays on pub days. And that kind of thing and that influx can influence the types of books that I might be picking up."—Janelle Li, @janandthings