Bloomsbury Publishing has said it is increasingly scouring social media to discover authors as it continues to cash in on fantasy writer and “BookTok” bestseller Sarah J Maas.
The publishing firm hailed an “exceptional” number of pre-orders for the newest instalment in Maas’s book series A Court Of Thorns And Roses.
The highly-anticipated sixth and seventh titles were announced in March on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast.
The news led Bloomsbury to upgrade its profit expectations for the year ahead and sent its share price soaring.
The publisher said advanced sales for the sixth book, which is selling in hardback for a retail price of £25, were up significantly.
Nigel Newton, the founder and chief executive of Bloomsbury, told the Press Association that the company was one of the “original beneficiaries” of the BookTok trend on video sharing app TikTok, which has helped attract a newer cohort of younger readers.
He also said the publisher has been increasingly using social media to sell and find books, with a team dedicated to the task.
This was how it came to sign book deals with Poppy O’Toole, a chef who was creating cooking content for millions of followers before authoring a series of cookbooks.
Meanwhile, Bloomsbury, which publishes JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, said the upcoming HBO TV adaptation was expected to create fresh demand and drive sales of the books.
Nevertheless, the company said it was its academic and professional division which has been driving sales growth for the business, helping offset declining revenues within its consumer arm in the past financial year.
It follows an AI licensing deal last year which allows it to sell academic works to train up generative AI programmes.
Bloomsbury said more subject areas were now being considered for AI training.
Authors have been given the opportunity to “opt-in” to the scheme and will be paid royalties if they decide to let their work be used.
It also said the opening of a new base in Singapore would create opportunities to commission local content and tap into the major student population in the Asia region.
Bloomsbury said total revenues fell to £325.9 million in the year to the end of February, from £361 million the prior year.
Nevertheless, pre-tax profits lifted by 7% year-on-year to £44.9 million.
