TopicsSearch Entire Site The Key Book Publishing Paths: 2025–2026 Traditional PublishingBrowse all Queries & Synopses Book Proposals Researching & Evaluating Publishers Small and Independent Publishers Literary Agents
Hybrid Publishing Other Publishing Paths Working with Editors Marketing & Promotion Author PlatformBrowse all Author Websites
Social Media Creativity & Writing Life Improve Your WritingBrowse all Fiction Craft Nonfiction Craft Memoir Craft Self-Editing & Revision First Page Critiques Publishing Industry Reporting
NewslettersBrowse all
Online ClassesPaid Classes Classes taught by Jane Free Business Classes Watch for These 2026 Social Media Trends
More focus on e-commerce, less on linking Expect continued expansion of on-platform conversion(that is, buying things on social media) with even more platforms implementing integrated e-commerce tools. External links are continuing to be less viable on social with some platforms beginning to implement pay-to-post fees.
I wish the publishing world would get more involved in the direct-to-consumer fulfillment opportunities presented by these platform-owned commerce tools (e.g., TikTok Shop), and update distribution models and tracking to the modern age.
User-tuned feeds Expect expansion of user-tuned feeds with the rollout of interest categories on multiple platforms that allow users the ability to customize their algorithms.
This is both good and bad news for discoverability. For extremely niche creators, this is supposed to be good for long-term retention, but it’s a mixed blessing for cross-pollination of audiences and gaining new readers. My recommendation for authors and other niche professionals: post about all of your interests, as your holistic selves, to capture people who might not otherwise see into bookish and author spaces. Don’t just talk about your work; join conversations about your interests and hobbies. I personally know someone who only knows John Scalzi as the guy who posts about his insane burritos. Will they eventually read one of his books? Maybe!
Decreased use of hashtags Instagram announced that hashtags will be limited to just 5 per post, down from a max of 30. Keywords are more than sufficient for today’s algorithms. If you’ve been relying on a hashtag strategy to expand your audience, now is the time to learn the value of loading your communications with keywords (spoken on video or in written posts or captions).
Here’s an easy hack to get you started: Always use alt text for image-based posts and load that alt text with keywords, like in the old days of metadata SEO hacking. For example, instead of your alt