On Writing : Is Social Media an Industry Influencer Now? by Debbie Seagle

It is and is not an influencer. I have serialized and grown new audiences for two of my novels. The serials are there and not any interest or knowledge of film pipeline. Yet, I am personally pitching my material in podcasts. Though my books are small press they are taken seriously ss lit and collected in Stanford and Columbia’s libraries as new American fiction. So personal pitches are the clinchers with a face attached. I have done interviews on radio , but not in aud numbers you get in other media

Debbie Seagle, this is such an important conversation, and I think a lot of what people are reacting to isn’t necessarily social media itself, it’s the pressure around it.

The reality is, whether we like it or not, the way people discover stories, trends, and creators has shifted. Platforms like BookTok and YouTube have become powerful because they widen the lens, they expose audiences to content they may have never found otherwise, and they create momentum around projects in a very visible way.

But I don’t think that means everyone suddenly has to become a full-time influencer with millions of followers. That’s not realistic or necessary for most creatives.

What is important is understanding where your audience spends time and how they discover things, and then showing up in a way that feels authentic to you.

That’s something we talk about a lot here on Stage 32. It’s not about creating a persona that doesn’t feel like you or constantly blasting your work everywhere. It’s about being intentional, choosing the right spaces, engaging in real conversations, and making yourself visible so that when opportunities come up, people know who you are and what you bring to the table.

Because if you’re not active anywhere, it becomes much harder for others to advocate for you, collaborate with you, or even find you.

So I see it less as “you have to be everywhere” and more as “you should be somewhere, in a way that works for you.”

Curious how others are approaching that balance right now.

WOW Susan I Weinstein - having your books in Stanford and Columbia’s libraries is admirable - and obviously verifies just how good they are. Do you have your own podcast as well as pitching on others? Being a Podcast guest is a great way to spread your work - without spreading yourself too thin - as in trying to keep up with your own FB, Insta, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn.... I tried that at first & realized it was too much for too little.- Just what Ashley Renée Smith said. ("That's what she said" -LOL - sorry, I have boys.)

Wish I'd found advice like yours four years ago.

Debbie Seagle Really interesting question and something I’ve been thinking about as well.

I do think social media is becoming a kind of discovery tool, but not a replacement for strong storytelling. It might get attention faster, but it can’t sustain a career on its own.

Personally, I see it more as a visibility layer rather than the foundation. The core still has to be the writing, the voice, and the ability to tell a compelling story that can actually translate to screen.

I’m not heavily focused on building an audience right now I’m more focused on developing strong feature projects. But I do think being present, even in a small way, helps create opportunities over time.

Feels like the balance is somewhere between staying true to the craft while not being completely invisible.

I work in publishing and yes, social media is a powerful decider who gets the deal sometimes. They want to see people hustle then jump on something that's growing. It's not great because I know some talented creatives who are shy and introverted. Their work should speak for themselves.

Very good point Abhijeet Aade ... a discovery tool rather than trying to create a script from your online YouTube channel does seem much more authentic. I'm with you - I'm focused on writing too. - What I love to do...

I agree Lauren Hackney - a writer's work SHOULD be enough. It's understandable, but feels almost lazy on the buyer's part to consider the built-in audience of a writer. And it is what it is.

None. Nope. Nada. Uh uh. The smallest denomination of poo about it and I are strangers. I'm a writer not an on-line fake-poll-dancer. HOWEVER, when real fans appear and ask questions and express interest in the writing, I am gracious, welcoming, helpful and open. Popularity is healthy. popularism is a disease. Of course, I do get involved in marketing which is legal decent honest and truthful.

"Loved your perspective."

I keep getting asked by TikTok to sell my books on TokShop but I'm a bit wary. I already do Podcasts of my work on YouTube. Doesn't seem to bring in any more readers. Does any one else on here sell on TokShop?

The industry’s flirtation with BookTok and YouTube isn’t about replacing writers—it’s about de-risking decisions. Virality is being treated like pre-awareness, a shortcut to audience validation before a script is even read. From my vantage point, that’s a useful signal, not a substitute for execution. Followers can open the door, but they don’t carry a project through development, production, and delivery—that still comes down to craft, structure, and the ability to solve story problems under pressure. I’m not interested in chasing attention; I’m focused on building a slate of production-ready material and working directly with producers to develop ideas quickly and effectively. If anything, this trend creates more demand for writers who can actually do the job once the noise fades.

Tough market.

I don't follow any of these trends, so I don't know, but I think the whole social world is making choices behind the scenes in film. They're looking at all the algorithms and what's hot. The issue is it's all a trend and will fade out, so I try to keep my head out of it.

I post on YouTube pretty often on my channel Peak Edits, so, it's pretty good for me.

I just wrote an essay kind of related to this for an "arts industries in Canada" class in my Bachelor of Creative Arts program. I thought social media influencers were a joke, so decided to deep dive into their role as a creative industry, and was surprised to find how much they've carved a corner of the arts industries out for themselves. It actually looks like quite a lot of work, so I have new respect for them, (mostly.)

It's understandable in that context that, like books and biographies, etc, they would start to look at influencers for what will get made into the next film. I'm not a big fan of the idea but then again I'm pretty out of touch with pop culture these days. Some of the things I'm wanting to put into screenplay format are books from the 60s and older.

I'm not totally against it though. Some of them might have something to say. Art reflects a culture back at itself, so I can see a lot of viewers connecting with these stories. The problem really is whether producers are looking solely at their follower count, to decide what gets made. In that regard they might do the math and think "even if the film is crap, it'll get 2 million in the seats" or whatever. That scares me as well.

Can't be bad news. So long as it ends up a good movie.

It takes a lot of effort to create good content, and beyond that, making it compete in the market requires time, money, strategy, and much more. I’ve been in this space, so I understand how the game works. There’s intense competition. That said, it’s still a positive shift in many ways, because it opens up opportunities for talented people around the world.

I hope so. so can everyone go and Please Like - Share - Subscribe my new video: https://youtu.be/20j950I9rRU

Interesting Debbie Seagle. I've seen that and yeah it does seem that stuff that already has a track record or following in someway is getting made. I think it's the whole risk-averse mentality that's plaguing our society. Nobody wants to rely on hunches anymore and wants to believe in the stats.

I personally thing that this is the wrong way to go, because then everything starts to be the same and I'm hopping that sooner or later the audience gets fed up of remakes, reboots, etc. and wants more original stuff.

I think it’s already happening.

I’ve been building a small audience around my work using short video clips and story elements, and I’m starting to see how attention builds before anything is officially “picked up.”

It’s not about going viral for me — it’s about creating something that people get curious about over time.

If anything, it feels like audience interest is becoming part of the early signal, not just the end result.

Perhaps it's obvious to state, but clearly decision makers are equating following with an automatic audience for an IP. By extension, they are projecting revenue based upon following so $$$ becomes the actual driver when you don't trust your own judgement as to merit and audience appeal for an original idea that lacks following - ad and ticket sales. It's understandable to a degree in today's highly uncertain industry environment when one bad decision could end a career. But it also leads to a proliferation of remakes, possibly at a higher level than IP selections associated with followers. IMHO, both remakes and high follower IP are gambles in their own right. Often remakes are of material that was popular in its time but two or three generations later are not "remembered" as entertaining. For high follower IP, can an audience scrolling on the phone, interested for a brief interval, be legitimately expected to watch a two-hour production either in a theater or on their home big screen because of following? An interesting topic for a study.

But no doubt we live in a different time as screenwriters and authors and unless we have someone to do it for us, some level of social media presence is De rigueur. I have even seen a sort of reverse engineering recommended for screenwriters, i.e. adapt your screenplay into a novel. Don't know about everyone else, but that would only take months to years for me. Not very practical if you're trying to sell a screenplay in the immediate future. And just because you've written the screenplay, publishing has its own set of promotional demands.

Lastly, throw in AI's influences and growing encroachment on production from the ground up. Any of us who really just want to write are nostalgic for the time when that was enough.

I don’t think social media is replacing Hollywood’s scouting process. I think it’s exposing how much of that process was always guesswork.

For years, development has been based on:

* internal taste

* relationships

* gut feeling about what audiences might respond to

Now there’s a visible signal. Not perfect. Not always meaningful. But real. Virality isn’t proof of quality—but it is proof of attention. And attention is what the industry has always been trying to predict. So what’s happening now isn’t that writers need to become influencers. It’s that audience awareness is moving earlier in the process.

That can feel frustrating if you just want to write, I do too. But I’ve also been experimenting with building a project through online transmedia storytelling, and I’ve seen firsthand how that early attention changes things.

The campaign is creeping up on 1.5 million impressions, over 1,100 screenplay downloads on InkTip, and a growing audience forming around the story itself. Along the way, I’ve built 2,000+ industry connections, and that network continues to grow organically.

On the traditional side, the project (Pretty Little Lucy) has also been officially selected by 100+ festivals, with 45 wins and 100+ awards overall. It may never get produced. But it has momentum. And more importantly, it’s proving that the path into this industry isn’t as locked as it used to be. None of this replaces the writing. But it does change the starting point.

The conversation shifts from, “Will anyone care about this?” to “Why are people already responding to this?” And that’s a very different place to begin. I don’t think the goal is to chase virality. I think it’s to not be invisible. Because once attention exists, even at a small level, it opens doors that didn’t used to be there. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you get to the destination, it matters what you do when you get there.

I’ve invested a lot of time creating video content and developing story ideas through it. Some of those ideas have real potential to grow into larger projects.

The challenge is that algorithms don’t always reward strong storytelling. They tend to amplify what already has momentum, not necessarily what is new or meaningful.

That doesn’t stop the work. It just changes the strategy.

For me, content isn’t the end goal, it’s a development space. A place where ideas are tested, refined, and sometimes discovered.

Some stories won’t break through online, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have value. It just means they need a different path.

At the Palm Springs Writers Guild we have had numerous conversations and lectures on social media for authors. It seems book publishers expect authors to be self-promoters and are inclined to take on new clients who have substantial social media followers - if the writing quality is also evident. I'd rather spend my time writing my screenplays, log lines and synopsis rather than strategize how to increase my social media followers (unfortunately obvious if you look at my meager posts). I was very pleased to hear Tamer Ahsan, Literary Manager at Zero Gravity, state that he has no interest in the number of social media followers a potential client has. Meanwhile the debate is still raging among actors and casting agents.

First, I never heard of BookTok. I'm going to have to check that out. Second, I've been converting my screenplays into manuscripts recently, because of the trend of the book-to-screen pipeline. I've completed two and am considering doing another after I finish my second short story collection.

I try to post as much as I can on social media about my projects, but it gets in the way sometimes of my writing and everyday life. And I still have to start the publishing phase of the books, which is another thing by itself.

I'll say it's major diversification opportunities! The benefits for me are certainly considerable and promising for profitable investments!

Depends now on the talent(s) for hire and more!.

Debbie Seagle, I've worked in bookselling and publishing, and I'm a working writer who doesn't like appearing on camera---so BookTok is definitely out of my comfort zone, and even podcasts are hard and draining for me.

But yes, BookTok is having an effect. Publishers pay attention to what goes viral, and the people who rack up huge numbers there are more likely to have their next book bought by a major publisher and have some dollars put behind promotion. The mainstream publishing biz loves nothing more than putting marketing money behind the books that already have the most buzz.

Of course, the author can decline the offer and self-publish i that's their jam, but Hollywood still pays more attention to the major publishers than to small presses or self-publishers. That said, if you self-pub and want to attract Hollywood eyes, going viral on BookTok is a good start.

I advertise my books on social media, YouTube, and BookTok, too. But I do not advertise the screenplays. Maybe I should.

The thing about social media is that it’s not entirely organic. On Twitter you can have bots inflating your likes and comments, and partnering with the platform also extends your reach… and people can mute you too. Not to mention there can be fake accounts impersonating you for ill gain, as well as AI content, so if social media is an industry influencer… we’re all screwed lol

That is a great point, I would like to say viewership ratings plays a crucial part in the film, as many of you would know, so signing a influencer with 2M or 10M followers would help a lot, to get a film Infront of more people, but as a writer I feel, and this is just my opinion, maybe majority of us would feel we would be left out. But I want to leave all of you with a reminder, 2023 WGA had a strike and if I am not mistaken, Hollywood came to a halt, costing it a 6.5Billion USD. As a writer I get it, we want to focus on our craft, as I have been told time and time again, work on your craft, us writers are important, don't worry about the influencer getting signed just because they have the following its okay..............They have the followers, we have the content, we write and create, they can act it out or direct it...........Keep your head up!, you will be okay, writers have the power, I will always believe so!

I’m starting to see this from the outside looking in.

I’ve been building a small audience around a story world using short video clips and pieces of the narrative, and what’s been interesting is that the response seems to come more from curiosity than direct promotion.

It feels less like marketing and more like letting people discover something on their own.

For some, virality became a quick fix to grab seemingly successful people during COVID. Now, some lower and high-end brands, from a business standpoint, equate virality with cheap exposure and started using it years before COVID came. Partnering with the influencer, clothing brands, and organizations, making them more visible while tapping into their audience, offered quick financial relief to a big problem. Marketing-wise, it saves a lot of money, but many learned a lesson that one thing doesn't always translate well into another form of the same kind. Books like "Goosebumps" and novel series "After" kept various formulas from the books when translating to the big screen, which takes a good team that does well at translating material. That means understanding what team is needed to do the music, casting, production, etc., which is an art in iteself. Not everyone has the skillset to find the right people and bring them together. Then some viral partners were great for a photoshoot, but not TV or film. They couldn't act to save their lives. At the end of the day, many thought virality equaled longevity. It's all going to boil down to the goals and standards of the individual, which brings us to question whether we still want quality over quantity. I love bringing up the "Blair Witch. Project" No big names, no big budget, and no costly special effects. Just a good storyline, dark woods, strange, unknown actors, and a director who knew how to tap into the imagination of the audience. The culture of "quick fixes" has consequences. While I understand the logic, I do see in most circumstances that virality is a trap and may prove to be more costly than one thinks.

Debbie, this is such an interesting conversation.

I’m starting to see this shift in real time with my own work. I have several published books, and I’m already noticing how reader engagement — even on a small scale — begins to signal which stories have adaptation potential.

I don’t think virality replaces storytelling, but it definitely opens the door. What seems to matter most after that is whether the IP itself can hold — strong characters, emotional core, and the ability to expand into a series or film.

It feels like we’re moving into a space where it’s not just about being discovered, but about being ready when that attention comes.

I’m personally navigating that balance right now across multiple projects.

Social media can help, but sometimes the algorithm doesn't always work in your favor. There are lots of amazing channels on youtube that just don't get enough views. Ironically, I find the channels that get the most views are often the channels that aren't necessarily the most unique or creative.

Hm. I hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose it's all relative depending on your focus and where you are in your journey. I'd say, like all evolving industries it pays to be flexible and adapt if necessary to achieve your goals.

Depends on the talent and effort of creativity. Hollywood has dipped in that department since the multiple writers' strike over the last fifteen plus years. Many are starving for authentic stories to resonate with. Social media, along with other platforms, has many unknown storytellers who just need exposure and opportunity. But like anything else, there's usually only the 1% of elite writers that produce something timeless. So use any platform that provides fair opportunity. But do it with a mentality beyond what's oversaturated or trending.

Social media are the best free way to promote my work.

I do believe social media is playing a part in how movies are made, and I dislike it a lot. I feel it cheapens the art of filmmaking because being "an influencer", shouldn't mean, "oh this person can be playful and silly for 30 seconds in front of a phone, they should be able to play a character for 2 hours."

My favourite reference for this is from a discussion Maya Hawke had with a producer on a film she was in. They were talking about whether Instagram followings affect the likelihood of an actor being cast, the answer was yes. If you have a larger following you'll likely get cast to help elevate the word-of-mouth.

This boggled my mind.

The article:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/maya-hawke-producers...

As much as I might wish that social media activity and levels of reader engagement were not influencing Hollywood decisions regarding which stories get developed, I do understand how Executives, Producers, and Directors might be swayed by preliminary data regarding which stories are attracting attention. I just hope that some in the industry will still be "trusting their guts," taking an educated risk, and moving forward with stories even if they have not generated much social media attention.

I was at an event about verticals last night and they were talking about the fact that social media personalities obviously feed into the success of verticals. You follow someone online already, so now you're just following them into a scripted world. And that the best writers for verticals come from online book authors (I am not even 100% sure what that subset means), because they understand the rhythm of capturing an audience in the first few sentences and then giving them a reason to stay on every page.

The January 2026 Novel Marketing podcast predicting trends for this year, featured BookTok as one of the best ways to advertise your book. I prefer writing to marketing, but plan, starting July (too many commitments before then) to create a BookTok presence. In the past, writers often moved to cities they disliked solely for the career advantages. With social media and BookTok, we are now free to live in the American "Outback" and become visible. A fact to be celebrated even if it's a bother to join the online revolution.

I don’t think I can fully disagree with the idea that virality is becoming a factor in what gets greenlit. Social media, reading platforms, and YouTube have definitely expanded how stories reach audiences—and more importantly, how quickly they do.

That said, I don’t see social media as the deciding factor. It’s a tool. A powerful one, yes—but still just a tool. It helps creators get visibility faster and connect with a larger audience, but it doesn’t replace the foundation: the story itself.

Right now, there’s an overwhelming amount of content online—some of it forgettable, some of it genuinely great. What separates the lasting work isn’t how well it was marketed, but how deeply it connects. Understanding what audiences feel, what they’re drawn to, and what kind of characters and emotions resonate—that’s what really matters.

Trends can guide you, but they shouldn’t define you. If a story is strong—if the characters, conflict, and emotional core truly work—then social media can amplify it. But without that core, visibility doesn’t mean much.

And even today, there are writers breaking through without relying heavily on social media. That alone proves it’s useful, but not essential.

So to me, social media isn’t the gatekeeper—it’s an accelerator. The real key is still the same as it’s always been: great storytelling.

Since by switching windows, my whole message got deleted

Since by switching windows, my whole message got deleted, what I wrote is lost forever.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AphwWY8L3/

That's the wrong fucking profile--boy, you're really bombing out. The answer is YES, a social media presence makes a huge difference, especially when query letters and lucky connections are rhe only alternatives. My Facebook page for Chrysalis - The Family Adventure(s) shows 140 followers. While it may not seem like much, every single person counts. It's 140 more than the query letter writer has. Then there's the huge plethora of new TikTok followers who are following me after seeing an episode uploaded. SM is letting people know your show or movie is relevant and inviting them in on the ground floor. The bigwigs like to control.the drama and decide what gets shown and where but ultimately, it's the people, the consumers who have the last word. The one place i disagree with Thomas Jefferson is that freedom is not an inalienable right...it is an inevitable reality. If you give a king or a dictator or a President who usurps the function of a dictator power--if you give someone power over yo Iurselves, you have no one to blame for your lack of freedom but yourselves. Social media is a forum for people to decide what matters and what is relevant. If they give us the power Hollywood bigwigs don't want to give us, eventually these bigwigs will be forced to pay attention to the trend and start making money from our already popular shows.

OH, YES

I believe it's just another easy avenue to find material. Imagine looking for the best ice cream. You can go taste-test in the various parlours around town like they used to do in Hollywood when it was a much smaller business. Later it became a day at an ice cream convention where the world's best ice cream is showcased. Then it was, "We only want to taste ice cream that has a referral". Who has time for that anymore? Now, you can go online and look up the most popular ice cream flavors to pick and choose. Things change. I say, do your best work -- always. Put it out there and someone will see it whether it's popular, or not. Next thing you know... they will start wandering into the local ice cream parlours again.

It's a necessary evil.

It's not only an influencer, it's an outlet.

Debbie Seagle - "I hope not. I’m terrible with social media; I just want to write!" - I feel that 100%. It's just not my vibe. I use it to share, but like high school, I don't tend to be the popular kid, haha.

You are doing a good job.