Battling creator burnout

Burnout has become increasingly present within industry conversations over the past year. A group whose voice is yet to be heard is that of the book creator community.

Marketing and publicity teams and agencies have a responsibility to consider the wellbeing of the dedicated content creators whose social media followings we leverage and whose testimonials we have relied on. It can be taken for granted that their content will be brilliantly innovative and consistently high performing, but have publishers stopped to consider the effect of this pressure on the community as a collective?

We spoke to our community at Tandem, 95% of those surveyed stated that they’d experienced burnout, with contributing factors including feeling ongoing pressure to maintain their social media performance, a lack of creative inspiration and a fight with the algorithms. Furthermore, 52% of creators surveyed said they did not feel supported by the publishing industry, and 67% said they do not feel that their well-being is considered a priority.

TikTok content creator Holly McLoughlin (@thecaffeinatedreader) said: "The call and response nature of social media can create FOMO within communities as well as encouraging comparison to other creators."

Char McCallum (@nobooksgiven) added: "I often put too much pressure on myself to continually meet the standards of the rapidly changing environment of social media. The competitive nature and focus on content performing well can take away from the passion for books and content creation that led me to start my own channel(s)."

It is important to remind ourselves that the reason creators began creating content in book communities in the first place was due to a genuine love of reading and sharing their passions with like-minded individuals all over the world. The value of this lies in the loyal audiences of book buyers, yet is often overlooked.

Following this ongoing feedback directly from our close-knit community, Tandem are hosting the industry’s first ever "Wellbeing Weekender". Taking place 12-14th January 2024, we will invite our community to join us free of charge to spend quality time with one another, in the hope that this re-ignites their passion and creative spark, putting them in a good place for the coming year. The weekend will give creators dedicated time to create content and bounce ideas off each other rather than trying to juggle this with their other commitments.

The weekend will give creators dedicated time to create content and bounce ideas off each other rather than trying to juggle this with their other commitments

The first day of the weekend will be funded in full by Tandem and will take the form of a digital detox. Creators will spend this time hiking, reading, crafting and enjoying time away from their screens. During the two days that follow, we have teamed up with various publishers who will showcase their upcoming titles. The hope is that the support from both Tandem and our wider industry partners will remind the book creator community that they are a valued contingent of the publishing industry, which thrives on a shared passion for getting books into the hands of readers.

Of course, the weekend won’t change everything. Tandem and its clients in the publishing industry will continue to make a particular effort to run regular insight pieces with the community to ensure we are responsive to their needs and offering work that feels achievable. We also encourage clients to brief work with longer lead times where possible (which we know sometimes it isn’t) to allow for maximum creativity and reduce the feeling of pressure on the community.

"Receiving an ARC with a tight deadline can make the experience bittersweet. We appreciate marketers and publicist have their own internal pressures, but it’s important to remember that creators are real people with commitments, not just a handle on a list." This comment from Alice Blackwell (@fictionwithalice) brings attention to the other side of the conversation that is so often overlooked.