Book Club

[ALRATIBA]

I've seen some posts in various categories referring to "influencers."  And there have been several forum posters who had questions about just what are "influencers."   This looks like it may answer some of the questions.  Kindle version is only $2.99 ...  or you can download a free sample.

This morning in one of my e-book sellers' email was this book noted:

Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media.

From the blurb at Amazon:

If you’ve ever scrolled through your Instagram feed and thought, I wear clothes, eat avocado toast and like sunsets, why can’t someone pay me to live my best life? this book is for you . . .
 
Every one of your favorite influencers started with zero followers and had to make a lot of mistakes to get where they are today—earning more money each year than their parents made in the last decade. But to become a top creator, you need to understand the strategies behind the Insta-ready lifestyle . . .
 
As nightlife blogger, then social media strategist, and now Senior Director of Influencer Strategy and Talent Partnerships at Hearst Magazines Digital Media, Brittany Hennessy has seen the role of influencers evolve and expand into something that few could have imagined when social media first emerged. 

[Peaches McPhee]

You know, I wonder not so much about people being "influencers", but about the people who follow influencers.  What is the attraction of looking at photos of people you don't even know, even if the photos are pretty?  Why?

[santorini]

I think it's ridiculous.  Just more of this "look at ME" society that we have become.  And now they're selling books teaching people how to attract more clicks to boost the egos of these self-centered, egotistical drama queens.  No thanks.  Reality shows and influencers.  What a nice world we have created.

[Jinlei]

Stupid.  Society has lost it’s mind.  Social media is such a big deal to some people.  Sad.

[gardenman]

Influencers are essentially advertising or marketing these days. If an influencer likes your product it can make your career. The YA author Colleen Hoover was an entrant in the 2012. Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and got eliminated in the second round. Since her book was 'finished' and she couldn't get an agent interested, she self-published it. Like most self-published books it sold just a handful of copies, seven I believe. She knew who every buyer was but one. 

She checked her sales from time to time but found there were none, then one morning she discovered she'd sold something like seven hundred copies overnight. She was about to call Amazon to tell them their computers were broken, but her husband looked up her book on Google and found where an influential YA book critic had been her unknown buyer, had read the book, and loved it. She'd encouraged her followers to read the book which produced the spike in sales.

One of those following the critic was an editor for a publishing house who bought a copy of the book and then called Colleen to find out who her agent was. Colleen explained she couldn't get an agent and the editor sent her a list of the top YA agents and told her to tell them the editor wanted the book. Colleen soon had an agent, a publisher, became an eleven time (I believe) NY Times bestseller and moved from her old double-wide trailer into a very nice, custom home.

Influencers can make or break you as a writer. The right person falling in love with your book/books can change your world in a big, big way. I like to refer to them as magic readers. If you get one who loves your book, you can suddenly do very, very well. 

[catter70]

Between "influencers" and "experts", I don't even know how I ever managed to get along all these years without them.

[Alison Wonderland]

Not for me. The last thing I want to be a social media influencer. 

There's a difference between "living your best life" and posting pictures to win sponsors and make followers think you are living you best life.

[Tinkrbl44]

It reminds me of the pack mentality .....  sheep .....  since when do people need to be told what to think and what to like?   It's sad, IMO.

[ALRATIBA]

All the people you follow on YouTube for fashion, cosmetics, etc. are “influencers.”

[gardenman]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

It reminds me of the pack mentality .....  sheep .....  since when do people need to be told what to think and what to like?   It's sad, IMO.

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There have always been influencers. Lucille Ball was an influencer which is why she was used to advertise multiple products. Look up the name of any famous person from the good old days and add advertisement to the search and you'll find that they were all trying to influence you into buying certain products. It's no different now than then. Influencers now tend to be more specialised. They represent just certain age ranges or types of products.

Someone like iJustine represents electronics and particularly Apple products. (Also Sony cameras.) She does other stuff besides, but if she raves about something, sales of that product takes off. Manufacturers know this and bury her alive in products for her to play with. 

If you're a good influencer you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, but the competition in the market is fierce. If someone else gets more followers you can start to lose influence. Lose enough and you're back to asking people if they want fries with that. In many categories you'll age out of being an influencer and have to find somehting else to do. If you're young, attractive, can build a big following (appearing on shows like the Batchelor/Bachelorette, Big Brother, survivor, etc. is a great asset) you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars by using the "fame" you've earned to sell products.