Building Your Author Brand

How Social Media Can Lead You Publishing Deals

By Layney Keese - Summer 2025 Intern

With the inevitable and continuous development of technology, social media platforms are encroaching their way into every industry, even publishing (Foster, 2023, p.2). Social media has become another method of marketing, and is often considered one of the most important in modern business models.

An expansive following on social media has become a factor in determining the publication of an author’s work, especially in large publishing houses (Harris, 2021). An author with a consistent, clear, and eye-catching account on popular sites such as Instagram or Tiktok will stick out to literary agents more than one that sticks to their tiny corner of the internet. As someone who has run the Instagram page of a collegiate magazine, consistency is key. Posting one to two times a week at the least, especially with unique and easy-to-read designs, is a sure-fire way to expand reach and establish a decisive and individual brand. No two authors are alike, and neither should their social media accounts be!

While experts in the publishing field have found that a large social media following is not inherently indicative that a single book will be a success, it does do some heavy lifting when it comes to marketing (Harris, 2021). However, this does not discredit the impact social media can have on an author’s overall success. Some books will simply have better sales and popularity than others, even when the same author is behind all of them, no matter the reach of their cyber domain. With an audience that already pays attention to an author’s work via Instagram, Tiktok, Threads, etc., any social media marketing for an individual book is guaranteed to be seen by the people who are already interested in an author’s work. This is why building a positive rapport with social media followers, as well as expanding your reach online is so integral to a successful author career. It may just be the difference in getting a book deal or not!

References

Foster, Chloe. “The Impact of Social Media on the Publishing Industry: A Case Study of Author Colleen Hoover,” East Tennessee State University, 2023. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/771/

Harris, Elizabeth A. “Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, ‘It’s Unreliable.,’” The New York Times, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/books/social-media-following-book-publish ing.html