Where the Kids Are: Marketing Online

We all know that an online presence has become an expected part of our author obligations. Our job does not stop with writing a good book anymore.  I found this interesting article from Publisher's Weekly talking about how the big publishing houses have shifted their approach in the last few years to accommodate and capitalize on an increased online market and thought I'd share what they're doing.

"As recently as three years ago, online was a small piece of what children's marketers did, and it consisted primarily of creating a Web site or a Facebook page, or perhaps allowing for authors to interact with fans on MySpace. But today there is no longer a question whether "to screen or not to screen"; in fact, online efforts are now an essential—at times predominant—part of a publisher's marketing toolkit.

For teen books especially, the majority of marketing has moved online. "Over the last few years we've been forced to adapt more quickly, because teen magazines like Elle Girl and Teen People have gone away. So we need to find creative ways to reach them," says Linda Leonard, director of new media marketing for Random House Children's Group. Her mantra, like that of many of her colleagues, is to find and engage young customers where they are, which is increasingly online."


Indeed, both Random House and Simon & Schuster have built their own teen communities. Last May, Random relaunched RandomBuzzers.com first introduced in 2007.

Teens can chat with authors, see new book videos (or trailers), preview cover designs, and win Buzz Bucks that can be redeemed for ARCs or signed copies.

Simon & Schuster started Pulse It as a physical book program/advisory board for teens between the ages of 14 and 18 in June 2009. Then in July 2009 it moved online. Since then Pulse It has grown from 3,000 to 26,000 members.

One of the most extensive online campaigns for a single title this year was developed for the third book in Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls series, Forever (Scholastic, July 12 laydown). But as Rachel Coun, Scholastic executive director of trade marketing, points out, even with all the bells and whistles, it still centers around the physical book. "Always in marketing it's important to do the traditional and keep up with the times," she says. Very few online campaigns rely on a single book trailer anymore.

"Our goals haven't changed that much with an online campaign," John Mendelson of Candlewick notes. "It's about building buzz, whether it happens on Facebook and Twitter or on a school bus." Finding kids and getting them excited about books has always been what children's publishing is all about. There are just new ways to do it now, onscreen and off.  You can read the entire article here.

Where do you think an author should focus their online marketing efforts?

~Kiki