Hachette pens Twitter book sale trial to bypass feuding Amazon
Hachette Book Group has partnered with Gumroad, a social media sales platform, to enable purchases of books through Twitter.
The publishing house has had to weather the transition to ebooks
Initially, books from Amanda Palmer, Chris Hadfield, and the Onion will be promoted and sold through the social network with consumers able to make purchases directly. Those who buy the ebooks will also be gifted exclusive bonus items as further incentive.
Gumroad has previously worked with independent and labelled musicians in social media content distribution programmes but this trial marks the first instance it has collaborated with a publisher.
Authors will post promotions of their books on Twitter with the tweets containing an all-new ‘Buy’ option from 11 December. This comes as the firm experiments with alternative distribution models, in March piloting social-led promotions with commerce company Buyapowa.
However, after a series of very public disputes regarding the pricing of books with Amazon, which was allegedly resolved last month resulting in the signing of a new contract, the firm will be keen to claim some of the e-commerce behemoth’s 60 per cent share of the e-book industry with a possible roll-out of social sales on Twitter through the authors.
Michael Pietsch, chief executive of Hachette Book Group, said, “With so much of our book marketing done socially now, in-stream Twitter purchasing is a natural next step. Gumroad’s success working with music labels and artists to enable sales to fans, and their partnership with Twitter, put them at the forefront of social media commerce.
“We’re excited to work with Gumroad to offer this unique capability, and to open up this new channel for Hachette authors and their readers.”
Sahil Lavingia, founder and chief executive of Gumroad, said: “We’re incredibly excited to welcome Hachette and their authors to Gumroad. We’ve been really impressed by Hachette’s commitment to exploring new opportunities for their authors to make money and engage directly with readers through social commerce.
“They don’t shy away from new technology—they’re genuinely committed to exploring what the future of publishing looks like.”
In September, Twitter trialled its ‘Buy’ button in partnership with Burberry, Demi Lovato, (RED), the Home Depot and Pharrell.