I’m sure most of you are familiar with engagement metrics, at least how these statistics relate to websites. Examples include how long a person visits a site, how s/he got there, and how long the person stayed on a page. Publishers are using these metrics to grow traffic and subscriptions. More important, this information is being used to grow ad revenue.
Publishers previously focused on pageviews and the number of unique users. Now many are focusing on how much time readers spend on individual articles. In short, online magazines are focusing on more interesting, higher quality content and less of it. The Post and Courier of Charleston increased its digital subscriptions by 250% after shifting focus from pageviews to measuring time spent and engaged minutes. Advertisers are also beginning to value deeply engaged readers more.
So, what does this mean for book publishers? And more important, what does it mean to us writers?
Who knows. But if appearances are not deceiving, the pendulum is beginning to swing the other way. IMHO, we are currently in an era of too much content, too many options, and too little quality. Online magazines and news media are heading in the opposite direction. Whether online and self-publishing markets will follow suit and demand quality over quantity remains to be seen.
I suppose it doesn’t really matter. To be noticed in a saturated market, or to
be included in a selective one, we authors need to remain relentlessly interesting.
5 comments:
"Relentlessly interesting" is sure hard to pull off!!! SIGH Thank you for an intersting post, Robin.
Robin,
Interesting post, gives us something to ponder for sure.
Robin, unfortunately I think your post is spot on. Not that I can be "relentlessly interesting" but I can see the trend. Thank you for sharing this.
Definitely something I need to start paying more attention to. Thanks for raising my awareness here.
Robin, you've asked and provided an interesting question. The question for me is what is "relentlessly interesting."
I think where authors and many other creatives go wrong in the online/engagement world is that they compare themselves to the big brands that sell a large variety of products and spend millions of dollars getting those products in front of people. They are the ones who use content like any other commodity they make. Their metrics are to get more people across a large variety of products and look at the bottom line.
But here's the thing, IMO, WE are not products. WE are people. And most important for me, is I am not looking to get everyone to buy my books. Because my books are not for EVERYONE. They are for a subset, fairly small, probably 100K people at the most.
So, the question is what can I do that is interesting to that subset? And how is it "relentless." My answer is, the best thing I can do is to be me. People will decide they either like me or not. If they don't like me, they won't like my books because my books reflect me.
Am I "relentlessly" interesting? I don't think any one person is. However, it is all I have. I'm satisfied with "more interesting than not." Maybe every post I write or image I put up on social media, or philosophy I share, or even book I write is the #1 most interesting thing online. BUT...my goal is not to be #1. My goal is to be the most ME possible, and those who have gotten to know me find that interesting more than half the time.
Don't try to compete with the big companies. Don't try to compete with the "influencers" online. They are working on a completely different mindset and plane than most creatives. If you do YOU well, and let people know about it, I believe you will build a good following of people who find you very interesting most of the time.
I do find you interesting. That's why I always read your posts. Keep at it. Keep writing. Keep putting out what speaks to you an LET everyone know you've done it. It's that last part writers seem loathe to do--to let people know.
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