Word of Mouth & The Forgotten Platform
Digital media has significantly driven book sales and connect readers to new books. However, the rise of social media and ability to self-publish has driven the progress of a niche fantasy subgenre.
Word of mouth gets talked about a lot in publishing — just ask anyone. Social media has become increasingly prevalent as a way for readers to find out about books and significantly drive book sales.
Hold on, hold on! You might think that this is yet another essay about the impact that BookTok has had on publishing, but don’t worry – that’s not what I’m talking about.
Instead, I wanted to talk about a different section of the Internet that’s become somewhat forgotten with BookTok’s success: Facebook. And for fans of Grimdark fantasy, a somewhat-niche subgenre, Facebook is the home of the Grimdark Fiction Readers and Writers group.
Colloquially referred to as The Grimdark Group, over 8,700 members share their reviews and thoughts, seek recommendations, and even get to hear from the many authors that are members of this group.
Spearheading the group are two pioneers of Grimdark fantasy who have taken vastly different approaches in their publishing career: Mark Lawrence, traditionally published author of The Broken Empire and The Red Queen's War trilogies, and Michael R. Fletcher, a self-published dynamo well known for his Manifest Delusions and Obsidian Path books.
What is Grimdark?
I suppose an introduction into this is in order. There isn’t a strong answer to this question, and the exact definition of this subgenre is unclear. There is one thing that is for certain, however: it’s brutal, it’s violent, and it’s not for the faint-hearted.
A really great discussion on Grimdark’s origins and influential series is Slowly Red’s YouTube video simply titled Grimdark Reader’s Guide, which provides an in-depth look at the most influential series within Grimdark.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way – or maybe even more confusing than before, whoops! – we can begin to understand its position in the publishing landscape.
Grimdark fantasy is a particularly interesting subgenre to look at from a digital media lens due to its deep-rooted connection to self-publishing. In fact, the term Grimdark started off initially as a pejorative term, with traditional publishers trying and failing to use it in their marketing.
And while many foundational Grimdark series were traditionally published, like Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law, more and more authors are turning to self-publishing tools and digital media in order to publish their books and find an audience.
In fact, some authors consider Grimdark to be a dead genre within traditional publishing, and a significant majority of entrants in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO), run by Mark Lawrence, has a healthy amount of Grimdark.
And it’s not just Grimdark either! The broader genre of fantasy sees a significant amount of self-published novels and successful authors who solely self-publish.
But why self-publish?
Self-publishing allows authors more control over their books and is often the only way that many authors would be able to publish. Just looking at the statistics is a sobering and often discouraging activity: the odds of being published are between 1-2% and a slew of rejections from literary agents are required before publishing can happen. Stephen King was rejected over 30 times before Carrie got published.
There’s also a significant taboo within publishing and the levels of violence (among other things) that is often seen in Grimdark. In fact, the only time Grimdark is mentioned on Manuscript Wish List is by agents specifically against it.
However, the rise of these tools - and particularly the Internet - has seen a significant increase in the overall accessibility and variety of different genres and subgenres. Self-publishing saw significant benefits from this, with self-published ISBNs topping one million in 2017.
Wait, weren’t we talking about a Facebook group?
Yes, we were, and thank you for keeping me honest! So, why is this Facebook group so important? Why not go over to Twitter – I mean X, sorry – and share things there?
Well, Facebook allows for lengthier discussions in a user-friendly format without a short message cap. Furthermore, there’s something to be said about the largest demographic of users on Facebook being men between 25 and 34 and that the Group Experts are all men.
(Unfortunately due to privacy rules & The Grimdark Group being private I am unable to share this – but trust me, it’s true.)
However, this has fostered an incredibly supportive community of readers and fans to come together for such a niche genre. Word of mouth reigns supreme, of course, and BookTok is continuing to drive backlist sales for authors.
But Facebook is still around, despite starting to lose users in 2021, and The Grimdark Group is a wonderful example of how digital media has transformed publishing and elevated a once-unknown subgenre into slightly-more-knowable. Despite the often-awful content in Grimdark, the fans are lovely people.
Wondering if you should come and join? Well, there’s an easy way to do that thanks to the recent popularity of a Netflix show: Are you a fan of The Witcher?
If you are, well, the books have been called a seminal work of Grimdark literature. So, if you liked the show, chances are you’d be a fan of something there. Come and check it out.