In 2020, Professor Ryan L. Raffaelli published a study highlighting how community-based brick-and-mortar retailers, particularly independent bookstores, grew despite competition from online and big-box retailers. Between 2009 and 2018, these bookstores saw a 49 percent increase in numbers. Raffaelli attributed their success to three key elements:

1. Community: Independent bookstores built strong local connections, encouraging consumers to support neighborhood businesses rather than large online retailers like Amazon.
2. Curation: These bookstores curated personalized inventory, offering unique recommendations and fostering customer relationships, helping them discover lesser-known authors and titles.
3. Convening: Bookstores transformed into cultural hubs, hosting events such as book signings, lectures, and children’s story times, sometimes holding up to five hundred events annually. These “three Cs” of community, curation, and convening are also crucial for book marketing in the post-digital era.

The Three Cs of Marketing in the Post-Digital Era:

The term “post-digital” refers to the world after the widespread adoption of digital technologies, where digital and analog media coexist and influence each other. In the publishing world, this means that readers interact with a blend of both old and new media. They might immerse themselves in a printed book while using an e-reader to look up references or collect physical editions of books they’ve read digitally. This blending of digital and analog allows marketers to reach consumers in creative ways by appealing to both nostalgia and modernity. For instance, retro formats like zines and cassette tapes have made a comeback in publishing, offering readers a unique experience in contrast to the fast-paced digital world. Similarly, traditional formats like radio shows can be repurposed in new ways, offering rich, human-centric experiences that stand out against the backdrop of mass-produced content.

In this post-digital landscape, readers are not only looking for content but also for experiences against the formulaic aesthetics—experiences that feel personal, curated, and connected to something larger. This human touch is a key factor in marketing today and ties into the three Cs: community, curation, and convening.

Community:

The first C, community, refers to the sense of belonging that readers seek in the post-digital era. While the internet offers a borderless marketplace, many readers still yearn for a connection to something local and familiar. For indie bookstores, this means fostering strong ties with their physical communities. For publishers and authors, it means connecting with online communities that share specific interests, such as Bookstagram, BookTok, or BookTube.

These platforms are more than just marketing channels—they are communities where readers share their love of books. Publishers and authors should engage with these spaces by understanding the platforms’ unique language and culture, participating in conversations, sharing insights, and showing they are part of the same community. As Thad McIlroy, a founding partner of Publishing Technology Partners, notes, “Books are full of text and static images, but marketing books increasingly involves eschewing text and embracing emotions expressed through motion and sound, delivered on social media.”

Curation:

Imagine you have a huge wardrobe, and every morning, you are faced with the existential crisis of what to wear and what you will do with your life. It will feel similar to an everything store like Amazon. It would be great if someone could give you personalized suggestions. Publishers and writers can apply similar handselling tactics of indie retailers. And, suggest different categories for different platforms to target specific groups of readers. A category identical to the “Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge” on TikTok is excellent for building and strengthening communities with similar lifestyles and aesthetics (which means identical reading tastes).

Convening:

The third C, convening, refers to creating spaces—whether physical or digital—where readers can gather to share ideas and experiences. Convening is not just about selling books—it’s about creating a shared experience around the product. Indie bookstores understood that they couldn’t compete on price with online retailers, so they focused on offering something big players couldn’t: an experience. They build a large ecosystem around books: sidelines (stationery, cards, tote bags, food and beverages, collectibles . . .), book and non-book related events, game zones, and reading zones, to retain customers, bring more value, upsell, and cross-sell to them. This is the key to building a loyal community.

For publishers, this could mean building an ecosystem that includes book brands, bookstores, book cafes, institutes, non-government organizations, reading groups on social media, cooperation agreements with schools and businesses . . . The goal is to make books a central part of a reader’s experience, not just a commodity to be sold.

A Framework for Engaging Readers:

In the post-digital world, marketing must combine human-centricity with technological innovation. The three Cs offer a framework for engaging readers meaningfully. 

For large publishers, this means leveraging scale to build expansive ecosystems around their books, incorporating a wide range of products, services, and experiences. They can also use technology like AI to analyze customer behaviors and personalize recommendations. For smaller businesses, indie bookstores, or individual authors, the key is to focus on the “economy of favor”—building deep connections with niche audiences and collaborating with like-minded communities. By focusing on personal interactions and creating unique experiences, smaller players can foster loyalty and stand out in a crowded market.

In both cases, the goal remains the same: to connect with readers on a human level, offering them curated, community-driven, and experience-rich interactions with books. In this way, publishers and authors can ensure that they not only sell books but also build lasting relationships with their readers.

Sources: 

1. Raffaelli, Ryan. “Reinventing Retail: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores.” Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-068, January, 2020. https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/20-068_c19963e7-506c-479a-beb4-bb339cd293ee.pdf, last accessed Oct 21, 2024
2. Cramer, Florian. “What Is ‘Post-digital’?.” In Postdigital Aesthetics: Art, Computation and Design, edited by David M. Berry and Michael Dieter. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. https://raley.english.ucsb.edu/wp-content/Engl800/postdigital-aesthetics.pdf, last accessed Oct 21, 2024
3. Wilson, Rachel, “Reading Like Rory: Post-Digital Reading on BookTok”, Post45, August 12, 2023, https://post45.org/2023/12/reading-like-rory-post-digital-reading-on-booktok/, last accessed Oct 21, 2024
4. Thad Mcllroy, “Is TikTok the Future of Book Marketing?”, Publishers Weekly, Jun 03, 2022, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/89514-is-tiktok-the-future-of-book-marketing.html, last accessed Oct 21, 2024

Kotler, Philip, Hermawan Kartajaya, and Iwan Setiawan. Marketing 5.0 : Technology for Humanity. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2021.