Do I need a big social media presence?

Q: Do I need to have a big social media presence if I want to sell my book idea to a major commercial publisher? I hate social media, and I barely use it.

Great question. And it’s one I get a lot.

There are actually two answers to this. And you may or may not like either of them.

The FIRST answer is yes, having a big social media following will make it easier to seal the deal with a big trade publisher. BUT — if you don’t have much of a social media presence, then you don’t have much of a social media presence, right? So stop stressing about something you have no control over!

Of course, in an ideal world, you would already be a social media influencer with tons of followers. But if that hasn’t happened for you yet, are you going to be able to suddenly, magically conjure it up? Are you going to wake up one morning and finally come up with that killer aperçu that instantly and effortlessly transforms into a viral tweet and catapults you into social media stardom?

Probably not.

Does that mean you shouldn’t try? No! By all means, start learning your way around social media, even if you think you “hate” it. Do this slowly, here and there, when you want to kill a few minutes. Learn the lingo. Pick up on the most popular memes and study the techniques of people who seem to be really good at this.

Will that be a game-changer for you? Again, probably not. But you might be surprised how quickly 50 followers can turn into 500, and how quickly 500 can turn into 5000. So don’t be intimidated by this!

The SECOND answer to the question is a little more subtle. But it’s much more important to understand — so try to pay close attention!

I’ve often heard big commercial publishers say that there are three things they look for when they’re signing new authors:

(1) A great concept/story;

(2) Great writing;

(3) A prominent public platform of some kind

I’ve also heard it said that, because it’s very rare to have all three things, publishers will settle for TWO out of the THREE. (But not one).

So let’s break this down.

Let’s say you have a really unique and interesting story to tell, and you happen to be a famous celebrity — but you can’t write to save your life. You’re probably still going to get a big book deal. The publisher will just say, “oh well, that’s fine, we’ll get a ghost writer to write the book”.

Of course, this is not a scenario that applies to most academics.

Now let’s say you happen to be really prominent and you’re an amazing writer. Again, you will likely snap up a book deal. It almost doesn’t matter what you want to write about. Your platform and your writing will carry the day.

Again, though, this is not most academics.

Instead, most academics — especially those who “hate social media” or “don’t do social media” — fall into the category of NOT having a big public platform.

So are you seeing where this is going?

If you don’t do much social media, then it suddenly becomes a thousand times more important to (1) have a great story to tell — and (2) to write the hell out of that story.

I hope this makes you sit up and pay attention. Because I’ve just outlined for you the entire reason why I do what I do. This is literally the entire reason that Scholars to Storytellers exists.

Again and again, I’ve seen academics who do brilliant, important work that deserves to reach a wide audience. And again and again, I’ve heard academics talk about how much they wish more people read their stuff. BUT….

Again and again, I've seen academics fumble the opportunity — EITHER because they haven’t crystallized their idea into an exciting, marketable concept OR because they haven’t learned how to write engaging, accessible, beautiful prose that will appeal to people without PhDs.

So yes, if you haven’t done those two things, then the lack of a social media presence is going to be deadly for you. It will combine with either mediocre writing or a mediocre concept (or worse, both!) in such a way that, in the mind of the publisher, you will be “yet another academic who doesn’t know how to communicate with the general public”.

And I know you don’t want that.

So the question about social media, while it’s important, should be a powerful reminder of the biggest and most important truth of all:

If you want to publish with a trade press, and if — like most academics — you don’t have a huge social media following, then a strong concept and brilliant writing are ABSOLUTELY NON-NEGOTIABLE.

Let that sink in for a moment. And then check us out. We’re here to help.