BIG 6 Traditional Publishers


 

Followers June 20, 2011

Followers June 10, 2013

Pct. Change


HarperCollins

57,525

170,919

297%

Penguin

221,481

563,114

254%

Macmillan

114,780

290,538

253%

Simon & Schuster

148,905

363,051

244%

Random House

429,701

985,068

229%

Hachette

173,039

337,392

195%

The 2011 numbers come from an article that appeared in Publishers Weekly and is available online here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/47695-the-top-five-twitter-feeds-for-the-six-largest-publishing-houses.html

The 2013 update was done by Wink/Nudge to further a discussion about book selling, publishing and social media. As you may know, I recently presented a workshop at Summer in Words conference. The entire workshop was live tweeted and several blog posts were made available for attendees and the public here.

The above data shows an increase in Twitter follows by an average of 237%. A further examination, thanks in part to the above referenced Publishers Weekly article, can be made by imprint. Here is the raw data:

Imprint

Followers

HarperCollins

57,525

170,919

297%

1
@HarperTeen

15,292

44,636

292%

2
@zondervan

12,279

30,276

247%

3
@HarperPerennial

11,656

31,014

266%

4
@HarperCollins

10,252

51,400

501%

5
@BookClubGirl

8,046

13,593

169%

Simon & Schuster

148,905

363,051

244%

1
@simonschuster

122,660

286,433

234%

2
@ScribnerBooks

7,920

25,977

328%

3
@freepressbooks

6,852

15,641

228%

now @sohopress


4
@AtriaBooks

6,020

18,496

307%

5
@SimonTEEN

5,453

16,504

303%

Penguin

221,481

563,114

254%

1
@penguinusa

183,477

448,305

244%

2
@PenguinPbks

18,006

51,777

288%

3
@PenguinClassics

10,214

31,458

308%

4
@PenguinTeen

9,784

31,574

323%

Hachette

173,039

337,392

195%

1
@littlebrown

141,507

260,728

184%

2
@GrandCentralPub

12,406

31,165

251%

3
@orbitbooks

8,554

17,416

204%

4
@FaithWords

5,143

7,922

154%

5
@HachetteBooks

5,429

20,161

371%

Random House

429,701

985,068

229%

1
@randomhouse

193,845

445,894

230%

2
@AAKnopf

104,638

193,993

185%

3
@fodorstravel

104,623

274,924

263%

4
@randomhousekids

14,943

38,337

257%

5
@VintageAnchor

11,652

31,920

274%

Macmillan

114,780

290,538

253%

1
@torbooks

83,892

193,212

230%

2
@FSGbooks

14,522

44,210

304%

3
@PicadorUSA

8,992

23,953

266%

4
@HenryHolt:

4,722

14,585

309%

5
@StMartinsPress

2,652

14,578

550%

Every imprint experienced tremendous growth. The largest of the follower shifts by percentage are: St. Martins Press, Harper Collins, and Hachette Books in distant third. Part of St. Martin’s position is owed to such a meager following to begin with, So too with Hachette. But still, one must begin somewhere. But compare actual growth of @randomhouse (over 250k new followers) and you may make the argument that the big winners are the ones that were early and big to the game. (Penguin USA likewise garnered an additional 250k followers in the two year span.)

The imprints with the largest number of followers within each group also tweeted the most:

KLOUT SCORE

#TWEETS

@HarperCollins

51,400

93

23,645

@penguinusa

448,305

79

19,844

@randomhouse

445,894

79

16,583

@torbooks

193,212

87

11,872

@littlebrown

260,728

69

11,402

@simonschuster

286,433

72

8,617

LOWEST # FOLLWERS




@HarperPerennial

31,014

83

8,613

@StMartinsPress

14,578

67

5,976

@FaithWords

7,922

50

5,829

@VintageAnchor

31,920

58

4,648

@freepressbooks

15,641

44

2,204

@PenguinClassics

31,458

67

889

But are the tweets reaching potential readers?

Even though @HarperCollins is tweeting twice for every follower it has, this brute force approach is growing their following and their KLOUT score of 93 shows this. Compare that to the behemoths of the study, @penguinusa and @randomhouse which post solid numbers and a super KLOUT score of 79 each. @freepressbooks is hurt by a low number of tweets. Look for @StMartinsPress to continue to skyrocket in both followers and KLOUT as they continue to engage their audience with witty and intimate tweets that engage 15-20 followers per post (on the high end).

For all of the above, the posts that got the most engagement with readers, according to KLOUT.com, had little to do with books, buying books or individual stories. In fact most posts about a particular project garnered 2-4 engagements. This is by no means scientific, but the data seems to point in the direction of our main subject at Summer in Words conference and that is you must understand your market and engage them where they live, and talk to them about what THEY want to talk about. BEFORE you can start blabbering on about your project and how great it is.