“On another platform entirely, one of the reasons I love following WW Norton on tumblr is their ability to make me laugh. They find wonderful bite-sized quotes that make literary fiction sound funny. They pick out the most light-hearted book reviews. They are community contributors to the tag #lit. They understand that sometimes, posts are better with cat pictures. As a poetry and literary fiction reader myself, it’s the not-so-serious stuff that I love—not all poetry readers want to hear about how cruel the month of April is or what’s going on with the best minds of our generation destroyed by madness. For certain, Norton includes a bit of that too, but it’s the right balance that I always stop to read. Norton does a good job of this. They not only keep me as a follower, but they go one step beyond by ensuring that they keep my attention as well.[1]”

—Matt Mullin

Really nice piece here on social media and book publishing. Norton’s Tumblr is indeed great, as Scribner, and the I Heart Classics Tumblr that was the brainchild of the excellent Emily Meithner. The point here is applicable to any business—everyone is ultimately in the business of storytelling, and those that do it well can prosper.  

Notes

  1. windcitybooks reblogged this from scribnerbooks
  2. scribnerbooks reblogged this from markcoatney
  3. markcoatney posted this