I agree with what you've said - paying book influencers is a business and marketing decision, and authors should consider how it fits into their marketing plan before doing so. As a reviewer, I understand wanting to monetize the work being done, but charging authors for reviews doesn't make sense. I think social media has made it where people think blogging their hobbies is a quick way for money or clout, but also obscures the fact that if you really want those things, you need to be business-minded and intentional. Hence scammers, poorly thought-out business models, or lacking communication about rates and deliverables. There are literary magazines and outlets that pay for reviews, but it's not lucrative (maybe $50/ written review), and competition is tight from what I understand. I don't think it makes sense to pay reviewers for promo (advertising posts, interviews, etc.) unless they can provide metrics about how much of their promo historically leads to sales or links clicked to retail websites. Or some equivalent metric.
Exactly. There's so much that goes into marketing that I think a lot of authors aren't considering. Visibility is crucial in a lot of ways, but also, it's about converting that visibility into sales. And working with professionals who have themselves together with communication and pricing is key. Every blogger is not an influencer. And it's important to remember that. Because everyone isn't cut out to be a business and you'll end up wasting time and money trying to deal with people who have a platform but no influence.
I’m loving this 🔥🔥🔥
Thank you! 😆 It's always an interesting conversation happening in the book community lol
I agree with what you've said - paying book influencers is a business and marketing decision, and authors should consider how it fits into their marketing plan before doing so.
As a reviewer, I understand wanting to monetize the work being done, but charging authors for reviews doesn't make sense. I think social media has made it where people think blogging their hobbies is a quick way for money or clout, but also obscures the fact that if you really want those things, you need to be business-minded and intentional. Hence scammers, poorly thought-out business models, or lacking communication about rates and deliverables. There are literary magazines and outlets that pay for reviews, but it's not lucrative (maybe $50/ written review), and competition is tight from what I understand.
I don't think it makes sense to pay reviewers for promo (advertising posts, interviews, etc.) unless they can provide metrics about how much of their promo historically leads to sales or links clicked to retail websites. Or some equivalent metric.
Exactly. There's so much that goes into marketing that I think a lot of authors aren't considering. Visibility is crucial in a lot of ways, but also, it's about converting that visibility into sales. And working with professionals who have themselves together with communication and pricing is key. Every blogger is not an influencer. And it's important to remember that. Because everyone isn't cut out to be a business and you'll end up wasting time and money trying to deal with people who have a platform but no influence.