Consortium Sales & Distribution, which distributes titles from more than 100 companies, has launched a weekly 30-minute Twitter Chat hosted by its three-member marketing department, in which participants can discuss issues of particular interest to independent publishers. The Twitter Chat (#indieview) takes place every Wednesday between 9:30 am-10 am CST.
The first #indieview chat, which took place on October 19, was a discussion of both the benefits and drawbacks of independent publishers specializing in, or focusing upon niche areas, in their lists. Last week’s Twitter Chat, on October 26, was sparked in part by this year’s Man Booker Award committee, which noted when releasing the list of the 2011 finalists that the larger houses are not taking risks with their lists, while smaller presses continue to do so, resulting in independent publishers dominating this year’s finalists. Wednesday’s Twitter Chat, on Nov. 2, will focus upon “discoverability,” with opening questions to include what independent publishers can do to more effectively shine a spotlight on their titles, both in stores and online.
Consortium (#ConsortiumBooks) has 3,200 Twitter followers. Thus far, its #indieview discussions have attracted between 15-20 participants each time. Wednesday’s chat produced 138 individual Tweets.
“We’d been brainstorming on how to get more independent publishers involved in a forum setting,” explained Jennifer Swihart Voegele, Consortium’s Marketing Director.
Another Twitter Chat, #followreader, which is sponsored by NetGalley, also features weekly conversations about topics of interest to the book industry in general.
