Why Books that Go Viral Matter so Much
(Even if authors hate the "game")
Authors seem to hold this truth to be self-evident: we hate relying on social media for marketing, and yet there is no denying the explosive impact of social media on book sales. Every week it seems there’s something new we need to try to find our readers online: run ads, post a video, do a slideshow, show our faces, don’t show our faces… The list goes on.
Writing a book is hard enough, but the pressure to “go viral” is intense.
The issue for authors, though, is the alchemy, the formula. Chasing the secret sauce that makes a book (or, more precisely, the social post featuring the book) go viral is next to impossible. Changes in the algorithms are frequent and confusing. What works today lands tomorrow like a turd in a kiddie pool. No, really. This stuff kinda stinks!
The various social media platforms don’t empower creators with the tools. In many cases, posting on a social platform and hoping for a viral result is like auditioning for American Idol. So many hopefuls, so much talent. And yet only a few will get the golden ticket to Hollywood. Even fewer with make it all the way to the top.
Advice from marketers and book coaches and experts from every corner of the industry doesn’t provide much concrete guidance, either. Sometimes that’s who’s telling us to show our faces, don’t show our faces, and so on. But what does seem to “work” is volume and consistency over time. You have to be “out there” to be seen, right? So the more you put yourself out there, the more the chances improve that you’ll be seen.
Or so we think!
(Image: a photo I took on a recent visit to The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles)
That’s same approach that authors need to take with their publishing strategies. Publish well, publish more, and keep publishing.
I run a monthly in-person book club at a bookstore in Culver City, California. We read exclusively romance, and the focus on the book club is the craft of writing and the business of publishing. Every month, the bookstore closes down to accommodate our large group. In rare months, attendance hovers around twenty. But of late, we’ve seen 35 and even 40 people pack the Sunday evening event.
Virtual book clubs and read-alongs have been on the rise since the pandemic, but in the years since the in-person restrictions have been lifted, the thirst for human connection especially around book content seems to be unquenchable. While I love meeting on Zoom and saving myself the drive through Los Angeles traffic and the ever-expensive costs of parking, there is something about meeting readers who also tend to be aspiring authors and talking through the merits—and the shortcomings—of books we’ve read.
Inevitably, the conversation comes back to that American Idol question… How did this book get so much attention when there are so many other good ones that never get seen?
It’s a question with no answer. Just like what does it take to land a golden ticket to Hollywood? Talent, that special something, and timing, maybe? But thousands have that, maybe tens of thousands.
So what’s a writer to do?
In a culture that can access anything from our phones, Americans reportedly watch three hours of TV per day. Roughly 30 percent of Americans read zero to one book per year. Zero to one!!
You know what changes that statistic from one book to two, two books to three, and turns someone who hasn’t read since high school into an avid reader? They get caught up in a season of American Idol and can’t go back.
What I mean is the one thing that brings people back to reading is the excitement, many times as the result of a book going viral. If the universe throws a book’s title or cover everywhere you look, at some point many people can’t help but wonder what all the fuss is about.
As a writer who struggles to balance life and work that pays the bills plus building my author career, I could choose to step away from the audition, go back home and sing in the shower and never try to put my stories and my work out there for readers. Instead, when I see a book go viral, I’m grateful. Grateful that someone ahead of me in line is having their moment. It’s their time to go all the way, and I will not waste time review-bombing or being jealous or hating on a platform that has done nothing but bring more excited readers into the romance space.
Yes, social media is hard for people who just want to tell stories. But the job of being a writer, like being a singer or an Idol, isn’t just about having talent anymore. I’m so happy to celebrate the successes of my friends and peers, and to keep chipping away, playing the game. I’m in this for the long haul. And I’m not just playing to win. I’m playing to open the space for everyone in line behind me, who hopes it can be possible, who dreams they might get their moment in the spotlight. There are unlimited numbers of golden tickets. And heck, I’m already in Hollywood. :P
Where do you learn about new books? What recommendations help you find new authors to binge? Did a viral book bring you back into reading? If so, thank you and welcome. No matter how you found my work, I’m so, so glad you’re here.
