Social media is transforming the way we read and buy books, with trending topics and viral posts guiding discovery and disrupting the traditional sales cycles. So, how can publishers harness these channels in their commissioning strategies? And how exactly are people talking about books online?
Sam Fisher is a co-owner of Burley Fisher Books, a bookshop in Haggerston, East London. He is also a co-founder of Peninsula Press, founded in 2017 as an indie publisher of boundary-pushing fiction and non-fiction.
A freelance marketing and brand consultant, Kat McKenna specialises in young adult fiction and leads marketing campaigns for clients including World Book Day and Jacqueline Wilson.
James Roxburgh is the publishing director at Atlantic Books, where he is responsible for branding, launching, and overseeing Atlantic Fiction, a list of the ten to twelve fiction titles Atlantic publishes each year.
Over eight combined years as an editor at VICE, Refinery29 and Dazed, Amelia Abraham commissioned stories, managed teams, shaped branded campaigns and grew audiences. Abraham now works mainly as a freelance copywriter and brand consultant. Recent clients include Nike, Hinge, Royal Mail, Dr Martens, Lyst, and Matches Fashion. Having published two books on queer culture, Queer Intentions (Picador, 2019) and We Can Do Better Than This (Vintage, 2021), Abraham has talked about LGBTQ+ culture everywhere from Sky News to BBC Radio 4 to the Southbank Centre, and regularly delivers LGBTQ+ diversity and inclusion talks for brands.
