Social Media #s & Book Sales

One would think there’s an obvious correlation between high social media #s and book sales for authors, but it depends on what you’re looking at.

For instance, which social media number means the most?  Number of LI connections, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, YouTube views, blog hits, Pinterest pins, etc.?  

It likely is more than one number than needs to be watched, such as Twitter and Facebook – not just one or the other.  Further, how one uses social media to alert fans, find fans, and create buzz is most important, versus simply doing things to inflate your online numbers but not so much your book sales.

Going on theory that bigger social media numbers mean something, here are how some famous, best-selling authors rank, according to USAToday:

Stephen King:

486,000 Twitter followers

4,200,000 Facebook likes

Dan Brown:

123,000 Twitter followers

6,800,000 Facebook likes

Paulo Coelho

9,000,000 Twitter followers

25,600,000 Facebook likes

Jackie Collins

119,000 Twitter followers

137,700 Facebook likes

John Green

2,980,000 Twitter followers

2,250,000 Facebook likes

Jennifer Weiner

95,600 Twitter followers

94,200 Facebook likes

Neil Gaiman

2,000,000 Twitter followers

731,000 Facebook likes

James Patterson

61,200 Twitter followers

3,950,000 Facebook likes

Margaret Atwood

510,000 Twitter followers

163,300 Facebook likes

The key to look at is how each author obtained his or her number of FB likes and Twitter followers.  Does connecting online reflect how many fans like these authors – or did the online connection turn people into fans?  Which came first?

In many cases these authors don’t sell as many copies of a new book as they have FB likes but they do seem to sell as many copies or more as they have Twitter connections.  One reason for this is authors can get multiple likes from people for different books but a Twitter connection seems to more likely represent a fan.

In any case, building up your social media platform and media resume will always be an effective way to sell books, build buzz, and directly communicate with a growing fan base.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST

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http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/when-pitching-online-media.html

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http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/your-book-is-great-but-does-it-suck.html

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http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/patent-advice-from-bestselling-author.html

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http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/authors-must-think-like-media-to-get.html

Ready for your million-dollar book launch?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/ready-for-your-million-dollar-launch.html

How to publish for profit – really!

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-to-publish-for-profit-really.html

How to keep on top of book industry news, trends, resources

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-to-keep-on-top-of-book-industry.html

Attitude adjustment for those promoting books

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/attitude-adjustment-for-those-promoting.html

24 tips to pitch the media

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/24-tips-to-pitch-your-book-to-media.html

27 tips to pitch the media like a pro

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/pitching-media-like-pro-27-more-tips.html

Is your book pr bipolar?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-ups-and-downs-of-bipolar-book-pr.html

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014