(Source: allposters)
Once upon a time, upcoming authors used to hold their breath and hope that publishing companies didn’t fumble with the marketing budget on ineffective ads. At most, they could hope for a few, distinguished reviews from big-name sources, and hope that the books really hit it off with a few famous people and spread via word-of-the-mouth. Nowadays, the game is played on a different field entirely. Book blogging, the hobby that takes the internet phenomena of blogging and combines it with publicity, is now the surefire way to any successful sale.
It took a few dedicated hobbyists that went big to show publishers the power of an online community. Readers liked having honest, informal reviews at hand, as well as a place to add personal input. Genres that normally don’t get coverage can get discussed, which leads to further recommendations. Companies started sending free, uncorrected versions of pre-releases to the most popular blogs. Bloggers then could review them and hold giveaways and other events for followers. Some authors frequently utilize outreach methods such as book blog tours, scavenger hunts, and author interviews/chats in order to increase their online presence on top of getting in touch with target audiences directly.
More bloggers, however, are readers, not professionals, and buy up most of the books they advertise. What’s more, their genuine motives lead to physically gifting free copies to others. And the blogosphere has only been expanding thanks to how easy it is to share opinions. The Young Adult genres have particularly grown, thanks to the right combination of technologically proficient teenagers and the latest movie buzz on paranormal and dystopian fiction.
This empowers the readers, who get free snippets and casual correspondence with their favorite authors, but it also gives rise to another group: self-published authors. With digital media formats of books a viable option, new authors can bypass the tedious manuscript inquiry process. They retain most of the rights to their works, and don’t need to worry about the certain genres publishers feel like specializing in. Debut authors could never compete with the well-established fan bases until recently, where a book tour on the right few blogs could yield major profits. The proof lies in the amount of new titles springing up. Modernized book reviews have impacted the field of publishing permanently.