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Plug Your Book!
19
Electric word of mouth
In 1988 a first-time author, British mountaineer Joe Simpson, wrote
of his disastrous climbing accident in the Peruvian Andes. His book,
Touching the Void, got good reviews, but wasn’t too popular outside
England. It sold modestly and then, like most books, began fading into
obscurity.
A decade later, another climbing book was penned by Jon Krakauer,
an American journalist who scaled Everest on a harrowing expedition
that claimed eight lives. Into Thin Air, with a boost from its
conglomerate publisher, was an instant No. 1 bestseller and worldwide
blockbuster.
And then something really interesting happened. Bookstores started
getting requests for the earlier book, Touching the Void. Weeks before,
stores couldn’t give it away, and now the book was sold out. Library
copies went missing. The original hardback, if you could find one, was
going for $375. Harper Paperbacks rushed a new edition onto shelves,
and Touching the Void started outselling the new “blockbuster” by two
to one.
What happened? Was it a stroke of brilliance by some publishing
mogul? No, it was Joe Six-Pack, reacting to book recommendations from
Amazon.com. The online store began suggesting the older book to
millions of people whom it knew liked climbing books, based on their
buying history. If you’ve shopped on Amazon, you’ve seen these
recommendations yourself: People who bought this book also
bought…
Many of the new readers liked Touching the Void so much, they
wrote rave reviews on Amazon’s site. These “amateur” book reviews,
written by real climbers and armchair explorers, resonated deeply with
the next wave of shoppers. More sales, more good reviews.
Ten years after the book’s launch, Internet-powered word of mouth
did something that no team of marketing wizards could do—it landed
Touching the Void on the bestseller lists. The story was adapted for an
acclaimed docudrama. Simpson, his writing career turbocharged,
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