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Netflix miniseries The Perfect Couple<\/em> has been doing numbers for the streamer since it debuted in September\u2014and the novel the series is based off of has been doing numbers for its publisher, Hachette Book Group.<\/p>\n The show, centered on a woman marrying into a wealthy Nantucket family whose wedding is derailed by a murder, is based on the novel of the same name and is the latest success story for novelist Elin Hilderbrand, whose titles have gotten plenty of viral love on BookTok, according to David Shelley, CEO of Hachette. Since the adaptation was released, the book has seen a 250% growth in print formats, according to Hachette.<\/p>\n In January, BookToker Brady Lockerby (@bradylockerby), who has more than 645,000 followers on TikTok, held up a stack of books roughly the height of her torso in a post about her favorite novels from Hilderbrand. A few months later, Milana Waller (@booksforlosers) described Hilderbrand\u2019s novels as \u201cfire\u201d in a post liked nearly 60,000 times.<\/p>\n Hilderbrand\u2019s already a multiple-time bestseller, and her books have sold more than 20 million copies, but Hachette is all-in on making her an even bigger success, Shelley said, whether that\u2019s through leveraging the high-profile screen adaptation or working with BookTok influencers to promote upcoming titles.<\/p>\n Shelley spoke to us about the effects TikTok has had on book marketing and how the growth of the platform and the popularity of book-to-series adaptations have changed the way publishers like Hachette approach marketing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been in publishing for 25 years, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen such a significant force in terms of a platform before that helps to sell books,\u201d he said of TikTok. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty much the most powerful force that I\u2019ve seen in terms of selling books.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the biggest new challenges for publishers is one that social marketers have known for a long time: It can be pretty much impossible to predict what content might go viral, or when. When it does, though, Hachette\u2019s marketing team puts marketing firepower behind those titles\u2014and quickly, Shelley said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are really influenced by what they see and read online in terms of other people\u2019s recommendations and what people are saying,\u201d Shelley said. \u201cIncreasingly, our job is about responding really fast to what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Hachette has seen the power of virality many times. Take <\/em>the novel Archer\u2019s Voice<\/em> by Mia Sheridan, which was originally published in 2014 and published by Hachette in 2018. As the book gained steam on BookTok, sales grew from 20 copies a week to about 150 in spring 2021, according to the publisher; By early 2022, the book was selling an average of 1,500 copies a week, and by fall 2023 that number swelled to more than 5,000 copies a week.<\/p>\n TikTok posts can, at near-lightning speed, introduce would-be readers to new titles. Two TikToks about the novel The Housemaid<\/em> by Freida McFadden exposed over 632,000 users to the title, and more than 3,700 people saved those videos, according to Hachette.<\/p>\n Once a Hachette book goes viral on BookTok, its marketing team moves fast to advertise it on platforms, especially Meta platforms, Shelley said. For romance-novel phenomenon Colleen Hoover\u2019s release Verity, <\/em>Hachette advertised and posted about <\/em>on its social channels including Facebook. The 17 ad campaigns Hachette ran for Verity<\/em> were some of its best-performing, according to the company, notching 7%\u20138% more impressions than its other campaigns; Those campaigns also boasted a conversion rate that was 20% higher than Hachette\u2019s average.<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a wider, diverse group of fans across all media for Colleen Hoover, and that\u2019s partly because we\u2019ve been marketing her to those regions,\u201d Shelley said.<\/p>\n According to Shelley, younger audiences are already finding books organically on TikTok, so the publisher doesn\u2019t spend a ton on the platform. By taking out paid ads on platforms with different user bases, though, the publisher is aiming to show off books to other, potentially older groups who may not have heard about the book elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a house, and everyone\u2019s in different rooms,\u201d Shelley said. \u201cYou\u2019re going into a different room of the house and saying, \u2018Hey, there\u2019s this thing over here that you might be interested in.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n For some upcoming titles, there\u2019s an effort to get the book to take off on TikTok in the first place. Ahead of the 2025 publication of Hilderbrand\u2019s upcoming book The<\/em> Academy<\/em>, co-written with her daughter, Shelby Cunningham, the publisher plans to get copies of the upcoming book into the hands of influencers and market the book on TikTok and across social, as well as in other places where books are sold, Shelley said.<\/p>\n As BookTok reshapes the way Hachette markets titles, streaming adaptations are also changing the way the publisher thinks about driving book sales. In the case of The Perfect Couple, <\/em>the series quickly became the most-streamed title on Nielsen\u2019s streaming charts the week it debuted in September, and amassed over 50 million views after less than three weeks on the platform. And after the show debuted, The Perfect Couple<\/em> has seen strong book sales, he told us.<\/p>\n Shelley said there can be a \u201cvirtuous circle\u201d surrounding a series adaptation that can benefit both entertainment companies and publishers, where promotion for either book or series can benefit the other project. In some cases, Hachette coordinates with the entertainment company on marketing, including by featuring imagery from the adaptation in a reprint\u2019s artwork.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the best-case scenario, all the marketing for the movie will help the book, and all the marketing for the book will help the movie,\u201d Shelley said.<\/p>\n For the recent film adaptation of the Hachette book The Wild Robot<\/em> by Peter Brown, which follows an animated robot stuck on an island, Hachette capitalized on the film\u2019s box-office success (it raked in almost $270 million at the global box office) by \u201creprinting, reprinting, reprinting\u201d copies of the book and incorporating imagery from the film in the book\u2019s cover art, Shelley said.<\/p>\n Like guessing whether a book will go viral, though, it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess whether a movie or TV show will be a success, Shelley said\u2014and in the case of adaptations, whether it will translate to book sales.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can never quite predict until something comes out how it\u2019s going to be received by readers and fans,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the digital age, that\u2019s even more the case than before.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nPost about it<\/h2>\n
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