BookExpo 2018: Panel Takeaways on Wattpad and Pre-orders

Wattpad helps Big Five editors acquire timely and relevant books; publishers discuss how pre-order campaigns can help correct a book’s positioning before it’s too late

In our last issue, we looked at overall big-picture takeaways from BookExpo in New York, with coverage of the CEO panel and NPD BookScan trends and stats. This time, we’d like to highlight notable takeaways and trends from a couple educational sessions.

In a panel moderated by Porter, an editor from HarperCollins discussed how she works collaboratively with Wattpad to surface and publish new talent. Editor Sara Sargent, who acquires juvenile fiction for HarperCollins, says that working with Wattpad makes acquisitions an active rather than passive experience, plus it helps her find more diverse authors and literature. “Wattpad helps us find a perfect fit for what’s happening,” Sargent says, rather than having to wait on agents to locate and reveal talent. And here we learned an interesting stat: one in three teenage girls in the United States have a Wattpad account.

Editors can ask Wattpad directly about trends they might capitalize on. Ashleigh Gardner, deputy general manager of Wattpad Studios for publishing, described how their data team identifies important stories from the millions posted on the site, often by studying the most “sticky” stories—where readers spend large amounts of time.

Sargent says HarperCollins has learned that when they acquire a Wattpad author, it’s imperative to keep the author’s original work intact at the site, both to keep the author’s fans happy and to boost the marketing and sales for the traditionally published product. When Wattpad-based works are transitioned over to a traditional publisher, the authors go through extensive editing that typically results in a work that’s half the original word count—yet another reason to leave the Wattpad version alone.

In a marketing panel about pre-orders, several publishers discussed strategies and tactics—and why pre-orders are important to them. In response to the question Why pre-orders?, panelists from HarperCollins, Ballantine Books, Macmillan Children’s, and Kensington said they like to see how a title is gaining traction when compared to an author’s most recent release. For first-time authors, pre-orders offer a window into how readers are responding to a title, plus solid pre-orders can help secure merchandising in bookstores and can influence accounts to change their commitment to a title. Ultimately, they can “change the trajectory of a book,” as one marketer said. Publishers will reallocate resources if they see titles track well in pre-orders.

If pre-order efforts don’t result in a sales pop, a publisher might change the marketing copy, the cover, or other variables. Pre-orders are like a canary in a coalmine and indicate if a marketing direction or metadata might be wrong. Readers’ responses help publishers understand if they’re not talking about the book in the right way or in the right channel (for instance, maybe a book’s readers are more likely to be on Instagram than Facebook).

As far as what titles benefit from pre-orders—and when: Kensington (known for romance) says their books see a huge percentage of pre-orders for established and series authors, and Macmillan says ad spend is rewarded when marketing pre-orders for established YA authors. A cover reveal is a big deal in both the romance and YA markets—and publishers might try to get big publications like Entertainment Weekly or People to do the cover reveal—but this kind of event makes a difference only for authors with an established readership. Publishers will push hard for pre-orders a few weeks before the on-sale date, but sometimes as much as six months in advance if they need an account onboard—which is tough if they’re requesting pre-orders for an author no one has heard of. Paid advertising for pre-orders usually doesn’t come until a month prior to publication, but panelists emphasized that every book is different. The debut novel Lilac Girls from Ballantine took two years of building the author’s assets and platform; established authors get a boost from the fact that readers are already looking for them and that Amazon will do a new-release alert as a matter of course. Finally, with pre-orders, a ticking clock helps: incentives or bonuses—items that grant some kind of personal experience or connection with the book—can result in better uptake. Access to the author or an autographed bookmark or bookplate can be especially useful in the YA market.

Bottom line: Both panels (as well as others during BookExpo) demonstrated a commitment by some editors and marketers to engage directly with writers and readers—rather than, for instance, relying on their own taste or gut instincts—to release better and more successful books. While publishers’ efforts still focus on the power of accounts to determine merchandising opportunities and thus future sales, editorial and marketing teams are paying equal (or better) attention to reader response to determine acquisitions, packaging, and positioning.