Calendario 19 / February / 2020 Cantidad de comentario Sin Comentarios

Who are influencers? Why have some influencers become authors? What is their actual impact on society? And, above all, what influence do they have in the publishing world that we exist in? The influence social media stars have to affect social trends and product sales is undeniable.

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Who are influencers?

 

Let’s start at the beginning. An influencer is a taste-maker. Carlos Rebate, in his book Influencers: Everything you need to know about digital influence, offered a useful definition.

“An influencer is someone who has some credibility on a specific topic, and by their presence and influence on social media they can become an interesting taste-maker for a specific brand, to start a trend, or to start their own business.”

 

Influences develop their popularity on social media. They often have a necessary presence on Facebook, but the most important platforms for influencers are YouTube and Instagram.

 

You can find influencers who specialize in every possible subject. Whatever you’re into, you’ll see influencers willing to review products, create tutorials, or offer recommendations, from vacation spots to recipes, clothes, makeup and dieting.

 

Influencers who write

 

Such is their influence nowadays that some people are willing to buy and use anything they see influencers produce and promote, including their own books. For this reason, publishers court big influencers, turning a huge number of popular influencers into published authors.

 

It seems like nearly every big influencer is boasting about their book these days, in whatever their field of expertise is. The bestsellers list of publishers, reviewers and digital platforms are dominated by the works of famous influencers.

 

Zoella, Dan and Phil, Shane Dawson – all have successfully used their online fame to further or launch their authorial careers.

Why social media authors do well

 

Influencers often move into authorship because, as well as simply offering a new source of income, being a published author may improve their professional image. A book can function as a new leg into a multi-pronged business strategy to expand your following and profit off your audience.

 

As mentioned earlier, social media authors have a large following of people who consider them an authority within a specific sphere. For this reason, followers will loyally buy their books, hoping that the content of the work supplements the image of the influencer they already know and love.

 

Which comes first – the author or the influencer?

 

20 years ago, the answer was clear, the author. But after the Internet revolution and the rise of social networks, the landscape has utterly changed.

Nowadays, the influencer is a brand, a product. They sell their image, knowledge and experiences to their community of followers. In this landscape, what matters is not the content of a work, but who it is ascribed to.

Writers with a long career in publishing, who began their careers before the internet became integral to everyday life, likewise have recognized the necessity of social media. They either manage their online profiles themselves or hire social media managers on their behalf, or their publishing house provides that service for them.

Writers now understand that they need to sell themselves in order to sell their work, and social media is the best way to do that. John Green is a great example of someone who began as an author and is now a social media influencer. Now he has a hugely devoted following on social media forever waiting to buy his next book.

 

Bubok’s social media influencers

 

Bubok can also boast a significant portfolio of influencers amongst our authors. Some of them are:

 

  • Cristina Galiano: Possibly one of the first Spanish influencers. Her tips and cooking classes on YouTube have thousands of views. As of today, her blog is one of the biggest on the topic, and her followers number in the thousands.
  • Amélie Yan-Gouiffes: trained in disaster management, she offers advice to leaders and entrepreneurs, utilizing her impressive personal experiences.
  • Salim Ismail: He is the executive director, founder and global ambassador of Singularity University. Author of Organizaciones Exponenciales (Exponential Organizations),  a reference work for the business sector.

 

What do you think about social media authors? Do you have any of their books? If so, what appealed about them or their work? Feel free to leave a comment below. If you’re interested in becoming a published author, Bubok is an amazing and free to use platform to make that dream come true at the click of a button. Register here and join our authorial community.

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