From Web to Print
attention of senior v-p and publisher Jean Feiwel, who offered
Shyba a three-book deal. Then
there’s photographer Brandon
Stanton: what began in 2010 as
a blog featuring pictures of New
Yorkers and their stories
amassed so many Facebook,
Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
followers that it evolved into two
books—Humans of New York (St. Martin’s) and Little Humans (FSG Books for
Young Readers). Since their publication
in October of 2013 and 2014, respectively, Stanton’s books have sold more
than 425,000 copies combined, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan.
In addition to tracking blogs, book
publishers are starting to pay more atten-
tion to a form of expression that has ex-
ploded over the past decade: fictional
web series and vlogging, or video blog-
ging, found mostly on You Tube. Why?
That’s where the kids are. According to
the 2014 Nielsen Children’s
Book Industry Report,
watching video content on-
line is the second most pop-
ular activity for kids up to age six (after
reading print books for fun), and the fifth
for kids ages 7–12. And 43% of children
under 12 are streaming videos on tablets
(up 3% from fall 2013 and up 17% from
fall 2012), while 58% of teenage girls
and 50% of boys are doing so. For young
consumers these days, finding video con-
tent and friends with similar viewing
interests on You Tube is all the rage.
As a result, certain Web series stars
and vloggers, like the bloggers of yore,
are quickly becoming household
names—at least among those under 30.
In response to a survey commissioned by
Variety last July, Americans teenagers,
when asked to name their “five most influential figures,” picked 20-something
YouTube darlings like Ian Andrew
Hecox and Anthony Padilla (who make
up the comedy duo Smosh, which ranked
#1 in the survey) and Jenna Mourey (aka
Jenna Marbles, creator of a You Tube
channel with more than 14. 5 million
subscribers, who ranked #16)—
members of a new generation of self-made artists who are producing how-to videos,
comedic sketches, or weekly video diaries
and have risen to the top on their own
merits, often without leaving their bedrooms. The film deals and product endorsement requests—and book contracts—that have started to pour in are
merely extensions of well-established
brands.
Book Publishing Comes to
BY ALEXIS BURLING
There’s no denying that the Internet has had an enor- mous impact on book publishing in recent years—both in the acquiring process and on sales. Thanks to blogs
and social media sites like Tumblr and
Instagram, writers and readers are able to
find each other and form communities,
trade book recommendations, and rally
behind projects like never before. Publishing houses, of course, have taken notice. With newfound access to online fan
bases that can stretch into the millions,
editors and marketing teams are trawling
for—and trying to capitalize on—the
next big thing.
Take the picture book Naptime with
Theo and Beau (Feiwel and Friends, Feb.).
It came to fruition after Jessica Shyba
uploaded a series of snapshots of her two-year-old son, Beau, and the family’s new
puppy, Theo, taking naps together, for
her popular Momma’s Gone City blog.
The posts went viral and attracted the
Theo, Beau, and baby sister Evangeline from Jessica Shyba’s blog
Momma’s Gone City (l.) and a little human of New York from
Brandon Stanton’s blog (r.).
wa t
p
Publishers are mining huge fanbases of bloggers, vloggers, and
YouTube stars for new projects
