Facebook’s global book club causing a stir in book sales

According to several news sources, including TechCrunch, Mark Zuckerberg is being touted as the Oprah of the millennial generation, as he follows in her footsteps in creating his very own online book club, “A Year of Books”. Zuckerberg invites members to read alongside him as he offers fortnightly reading recommendations as part of his New Year’s resolution; and it’s not your average rom-com novel neither – Zuckerberg pledges to focus on self-development in 2015.

He says: “My challenge for 2015 is to read a new book every other week — with an emphasis on learning about different cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies.”

Zuckerberg’s Facebook post announcing his book club to date has attracted over 131,000 likes and shared more almost 7,000 times, while the book club’s Facebook page “A Year of Books” now has a following of 268,358 people.

Although there have been no known partnerships with publishers, there have already been Oprah-like sale volumes, with the book club’s first selection, Moises Naim’s “The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used to Be”, already selling out on Amazon within the first day of its announcement, and according to the New York Times, the title sold more copies in the three days than it had ever done since its launch in May 2013.

With book sales sky-rocketing from Zuckerberg’s Midas touch, it’s my guess that publishers will be clambering to have their book at the top of Mark Zuckerberg’s reading list this year.

Latest Posts

Truth on Fire, and Brands Are in the Line of It We’re all in the truth business now. At Somerset House, on a chilly evening in June, I joined a panel to unpack the uncomfortable realities of misinformation and disinformation, and what brands can do about it. The session was…
Read More
Yes, that is me being a bit obvious, but sometimes you need to be a bit blunt.  Social is where buyers research, where conversion journeys begin, and where measurable business outcomes are shaped. And yet too often, it’s still seen as secondary to ‘real’ marketing. This newsletter edition…
Read More
Reddit may have been in the shadows of other social platforms for years – in fact, the debate is on as to whether it’s a social platform at all – but one thing is for sure, the B2B buyer and marketeer are finding it a safe haven for research and…
Read More