Study: Who is online, and what are they doing?

The Austin-Based New Media Lab gave us some food for thought yesterday. As book publicists, we are always trying to figure out who is online and who isn't, and we were surprised at some of the findings. For example: less than 20% of my fellow Gen Xers are blogging? What? Maybe it was it all that Nirvana and directionless youth stuff we grew up with?

More from the report:

Myth #1: The Internet is for Teeny Boppers

False! Extrapolating from the data:

- 5% of people over age 62 create web content (blogs, podcasts, etc). That means that in a room of 20 people aged 62 or over, at least ONE posts content to the internet.

- In a room of 17 senior citizens, at least one has joined a social network.

- One of every nine seniors you know actually comment on blogs and post critiques and ratings. Which actually makes sense, if you think about it: Who's more opinionated than Grandpa? You try adjusting the thermostat.

Myth #2: Tech savvy behavior is totally mainstream

False again!

- Only 30% of GenY and 19% of GenX create content.

- No age group uses RSS readers at a rate over 18%. (Odds are YOU reading this don't quite understand RSS readers either.)

- 19% more GenYers than Young Teens join social networks. This implies that the highest rate of social networkers is in the college category. This one will be a demo to watch closely, it WILL change over the next three years, according to NML.

So what can we learn from this, book publicists?

-Don't assume senior citizens are anti-internet. "Interwebs, is that The Google or something? You kids and your crazy machines!!" Dismiss that stereotype, and accept your grandmother's Facebook invite.

-Do pay attention to Millenials (i.e. Gen Y). Only 30% of them are creating web content, but that number will probably grow. Pitch accordingly.

-Do learn how to use an RSS reader (like your humble blogger did a few years weeks ago).

To read the rest of NML's interesting report, click here.

"Micro persuasion" is the new black

I don't know if it's the adorable graphics on Twitter, or the fact that words like 'tweet,' 'twittering,' and 'tweet-up' make us feel like we're communicating in cartoon-language, but many authors and book industry individuals can't help but smirk - still - when we extol the very real virtues of Twitter.

"But you can interact with consumers in a way you normally wouldn't!" we cry. "Even media tweets! Oprah has started tweeting!!"

"Yeah yeah, 'Twitter.' I get it. Real cute. Have you called the New York Times yet?"

Phrases like "old media" and "new media" are fraught with connotations ("stodgy" and "over-hyped" come to mind), so let's not even go there. Instead, Dear Reader, I'd like to turn your attention to an article that released this week from The New York Observer about publishers' changing attitudes towards social media. Here's a chunk:

"The central insight driving much of the outreach that publishers have undertaken online is that, if used with finesse and attention, social media platforms like Twitter can be used deliberately to generate that invaluable, heretofore elusive phenomenon known as word of mouth...publishing houses have sought to integrate themselves and their authors into various online communities of readers, and to interact—meaningfully!—with the individuals who participate in them. While they make no attempt to conceal their affiliations, the publicists and marketing people who man their companies’ accounts on Facebook and Twitter aim to be seen not as corporate promoters, but as friends taking part in a conversation."

Most people now understand what the point of social media is. If the book-buying public is a classroom, and Oprah, The Today Show, and The New York Times our teachers, Facebook and Twitter are the notes we pass in class. It feels fun, almost conspiratorial, and if you're already on-board with social media then I don't need to preach to you anymore. Except to say:

Our "teachers" have taken up the notes. And they want in on the party.

I've been hearing a lot about "the open web" lately, and the gist is basically this: EVERYTHING, all media, is going social. "Well, duh, that's what the comments section is for," you say. But by "social" we don't just mean "interactive" - the open web will reverse the top-down way media currently works (saw a book on the The Today Show, blogged about it, my readers bought the book), and instead, foster a network of online channels where the biggest stars interact the most places. From MicroPersuasion.com:

"Tomorrow, as everything becomes social, you will be able to shop Amazon directly from within your iGoogle page without ever having to visit the site. What's more, Amazon will show you what your Gmail address book friends have publicly said about a product and/or its category in any one of thousands of online communities. Finally, to help you further Amazon will offer an aggregated view of your friends' friends opinions in a way that protects their identity....

Marketers need to really embrace the fact that it's peers and their data, rather than brand, that will become the primary way we make decisions. The greatest rewards will go to those who embrace and participate in as many communities as they possibly can in credible ways."

For the sake of argument, let's switch out "marketers" for "publicists" and "brand" for "big media" - Oprah, Today Show, etc. If micro persuasion pans out, we'll pay a LOT more attention to those little notes our friends are passing us, rather than the algebra lesson our teacher is writing on the blackboard. (Especially if your friend is @johncmayer, in which case you might have to deflect his 10,000,000 daily notes with a sturdy Trapper Keeper).

Now, book publicists have always placed a high premium on relationships, but that's about to go into overdrive as we look down the road to 2010 and beyond, as consumers become the media. In five years, we may very well be saying, "Oprah likes Eckhart Tolle's new book? Who cares? My ex-boyfriend, my second cousin, that girl I met at a party last weekend and my accountant all like the new Martha Beck book, so I'm going with that."

What a difference a year makes

I'm in Boston getting ready for the start of "Publishing Books, Memoirs and Other Creative Non-Fiction" conference, which is put on by the Harvard Medical School's Department of Continuing Education.

It's a sweet gig--the conference is at the Fairmont Copley Square and Boston is always fun. This is my fourth year and it is one of my favorite trips each year. I'm due to give a media training workshop at 2:30 PM each of the next two days and then a speech on the broader publicity process Saturday at 11:30 AM.

As I prepped today on the flight up to Boston it was pretty eye-opening to think about how much I've had to revise last year's presentation. Each year I go through the normal updates but this year was almost a total rewrite. It is amazing how much the publicity process has changed in just one year...

Social networking?

Last year: "If you have time, I suggest a MySpace page for your book."

This year: "A commitment to social networking is no longer an option, it's a requirement. By the end of the weekend you should start building your presence on Facebook and Twitter and thinking about viral strategies for your book."

Newspaper coverage?

Last year: "Although slowing down, daily newspaper coverage - in print form - remains one of the most realistic and sought after targets for authors and publicists."

This year: "Thanks to mobile extensions, Twitter applications and clicks per day, online extensions of traditional print outlets like the New York Times are more visible bookings for authors and publicists."

Mommy bloggers?

Last year: "It's a cute trend we're starting to see--moms reviewing books, commenting on pop culture and generating conversations with each other in their spare time. It must keep them busy."

This year: "Mommy bloggers have become one of the most influential target markets for books online. Any book targeting women 25-55 has to resonate with this segment of the market. Oh, and they're making a fortune off of ad revenue. The more popular mommy bloggers have opened the door for the dudes they married to leave their jobs and stay home and count money."

Blog tours?

Last year: "Apparently, New York Times thinks we should send our authors on "appearances" around the internet."

This year: "Blog tours, online book giveaways, author guest posts, etc. are crucial to every book publicity campaign. Try giving your bloggers a time range - a 3-4 day window, for example - to post their reviews, giveaway, etc. in order to spike Amazon rankings and increase the book's search engine optimization."

How much will change between 2009 and 2010? Any thoughts?

Talking Shop: Q&A with your favorite insiders

Jessa Crispin, Bookslut.com founder
and editor-in-chief

Jessa Crispin is the founder and editor-in-chief of arguably the most popular literary blog out there: Bookslut. We wanted to discuss how book publicists and authors can more effectively work with bloggers - so naturally, we turned to Miss Crispin. Read on for Jessa's thoughts on the online literary community, her favorite books, and how she once threatened to kill a writer.

Tell us a little bit about you, and a little bit about your blog.
Probably all you need to know about me is that I am a giant dork. I get really excited trying to figure out how things work, and "things" can be anything. Physics, baking, neurochemistry, history, farming, religion, whatever. I also like figuring out how one thing connects to another, so sitting around following trains of thought with the help of the Internet is a great little job to have. The blog is whatever I dig up while drinking my morning tea plus the first thing that comes into my head while reading it. I know I should pretend like it's really hard work, and that I spend hours agonizing over my commentary, but that would be lying. I think Bookslut's usually referred to as a book news blog, but that's sort of misleading -- that gives the impression that I'm blogging about what Sloane Crosley is having for breakfast. It's more like book news filtered through my very specific interests. I could probably have a bigger audience if I blogged about the books everyone else is talking about.

How did your blog get started?
The blog started when I was 23, living in Austin and working at Planned Parenthood. It started as a diversion from a job that took me approximately two hours to complete, and I had to fill the other six hours somehow. Why not troll the web looking for the latest interviews with Neil Gaiman or whomever? Now it's six years later, and Bookslut has grown to about half of my day job -- the other half being freelance writing.

What is a "typical day" like as a book blogger? (Knowing there are likely very few "typical days"...)
It's mostly a lot of reading. Between Bookslut and my books column at the Smart Set, I have to read an awful lot. I try to get all the actual blogging done by 10 am or so, so that I have the day to run errands, proofread/format/edit the new issue, read, and sit and wonder if I can bother my editor into letting me change one more thing about my column before it goes up without him just firing me. There's also a lot of obsessive e-mail checking.

How has the internet changed the way we view literary communities?
I think it's closed the gap between author and audience. Or shortened it. Now that everyone can see each other, it's a little awkward. No one knows what to do with each other. It's still early to tell how it'll change writing and publishing, but it'll be interesting.

Why do you think some books take off, and others crash and burn - even if those crashing, burning books are outstanding?
I think there are a billion reasons. The publicist not hitting the right notes, the author not knowing how to find his or her potential audience, the publisher just not making an effort and dumping the book, the press isn't able to find an angle to write about the book, another blockbuster comes out at a similar time and eclipses it... Star alignment at the release date might have something to do with it, because sometimes even savviness can't overcome bad luck.

What are you reading right now?
That's always a complicated question. I'm reading Bonk by Mary Roach, We Are Now Beginning Our Descent by James Meek, an old issue of London Review Books that had fallen behind a bookcase and I just found, and the Kitchen Sink by Albert Goldbarth. I also keep meaning to finish up Roanoke by Lee Miller -- I forgot to pack it for my trip to London, so I have about 60 pages left.

Rank your top three books of all time?
Just so you know, this will change tomorrow:
Dubliners by James Joyce
Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

Who is an author we should keep an eye on?
Last year, there were three women writers who just eclipsed everything else I read: Scarlett Thomas, Joanna Kavenna, and Mia Gallagher. The Gallagher ("Hellfire") was not released in the States I don't think; I picked it up in Dublin. But with Thomas and Kavenna, they wrote quirky books that didn't find the massive audiences they deserved, but I have faith they will. All three of them are too good to be ignored for long.

What would surprise Bookslut readers about Jessa Crispin?
Probably a lot. I don't talk about my personal life too much on the blog. I'm almost pathologically reluctant to share any personal details at all. I don't know why that is. But I think I actually threatened to kill a writer I was dating about a year ago if he ever blogged about me. (We broke up over the blog.) It might be a bit surprising that I was a cheerleader back in school in Kansas. I told someone that recently, and he was flummoxed. So yes, I was a cheerleader, but I was a cheerleader who read Thomas Hardy books on the bus on the way to games and painted her fingernails white and magenta in honor of Molly from Neuromancer.

Craziest email you have ever gotten from an:
a) Book publicist, and/or
b) Author?
The e-mails I get from publicists that I don't understand are the ones talking about how attractive the author is. "She's beautiful! He's handsome!" I always wonder what I'm supposed to do with this information. I want to write back, "Is he coming over to my house? If not, what the hell do I care who attractive the author is?" As far as authors go, I get the occasional 3 am e-mail from an author who is obviously drunk and self-Googling -- "Who the hell do you think you are?" etc. -- but I never make them public, because I also have a drunk e-mail habit. I need to keep the good karma so that the universe will not retaliate with an ex suddenly putting my drunk e-mails online.

Who says publicists are always behind the scenes?

Ok, well I guess we do, because we normally are. This has made our time in the spotlight on Novel Journey over the past two weeks even more enjoyable.

The second installment of our interview series is up today. Head over there to hear Tolly and Amy talk about online publicity, challenges facing publicists today and how to promote your science fiction novel about aliens taking over the U.S. government.

It can be done!

Why We Did It: New Viral Video Marketing & Online PR Campaign

According to Hitwise’s 2006 edition of the "US Consumer Generated Media Report," MySpace garnered the number one spot among the top 20 leading social networking sites, receiving 82 percent of the visits in a month-long period. What’s more, that same report indicated the average MySpace user spends at least two hours on the site per sitting. And that’s just social networking. In January of 2007, Internet monitoring company Netcraft reported that there were 106,875,138 websites with domain names and content on them. YouTube hosts nearly 73 million videos and 2.8 million user channels. Technorati, a blog search engine, currently tracks over 112 million blogs. Clearly, the Internet has become one of our most valuable tools for connecting with other people.

I will be the first to admit that Phenix & Phenix has always been a firm that has resisted PR fads. We have consistently stuck to our guns amidst the latest crazes in the industry, much to the benefit of our clients. Hard work, a focus on building relationships, creative positioning and savvy promotion have allowed us to deliver national media and launch best selling books for years. For that reason, we have seldom seen the value in changing our approach to building brands for our clients. If it ain’t broke…

However, it is no secret that book publicity is changing. It is not just about landing ink and airtime anymore. If a book does not have significant Web presence in today’s digitally driven marketplace, it is missing out on potential sales and long-term media opportunities. Success stories abound for authors who used the Internet effectively to build their platforms. Just this week Publishers Weekly ran a story about Christian author Anita Renfroe, who will now be making regular appearances on "Good Morning America" after they aired her YouTube video and got a great response. Renfroe posted a creative video online that has now been viewed millions of times:



As was the case with Renfroe, success on the Internet often starts with entertaining, eye-catching visuals. As we did more research on viral marketing success stories and talked with agents & publishers about what they have seen work well, it became clear to us that P&P needed a campaign that focused on building platforms for authors online. We also knew that any online viral marketing and PR campaign we designed needed to be anchored by entertaining and informative video clips of the author.

I won't bore you with the specifics of what is included in this new campaign, as you can read more about it here, but it is important to note that this the first new campaign that P&P has launched in years. We're doing so because we believe this is a direction that both the media and the book industry are headed.

We will be updating the blog with more viral marketing success stories from authors in the coming weeks, so if you have one to nominate, let us hear about it!