How much attention do you think BL gives to social media?

[grailkeeper]

A lot of Bl fans talk about how they feel about BL books online.

 

BL authors used to be very involved on social media about a decade ago. Some still are, but I understand the advice is not to be.

 

We talk about Bl books in detail here but I doubt Bl pays much attention. However a lot of the people involved in the publishing part of BL are now young and many of them are women. That's a trend in the publishing industry. I'm not on tiktok but I understand booktok is a big thing, especially in the industry, but also with young women. Do you think they pay attention to that? Do you think they might pay attention to forums?

Edited January 23 by grailkeeper

[Tolmeus]

I am only a member of the B&C forum and do not read Reddit or other media on this topic. But I would argue that they do not read these comments. They certainly read comments on their own social media posts, such as on Instagram, but whether they take note of the more critical comments is highly doubtful.

It's a shame that they don't care much about this part of the community (or the community in general).

On the other hand, one has to accept that GW is no longer the friendly miniature shop around the corner. We're talking about a billion-pound company here. Most of their decisions are perfectly rational in terms of making a profit, and objectively speaking, there's nothing wrong with that.

 

Spoiler

A rather more personal note:
As a BL reader, it is of course a shame that there are no more Black Library Weekenders, monthly/quarterly previews, interactions with authors on social media or BL events.
I am too young to have witnessed the Weekender events in person but boy oh boy, what I have loved to chat with Abnett, Wraight or French about their novels, get the opportunity to have some books personally signed or let me be taken by surprise of upcoming novels.

 

[Kenzaburo]

Oh man, I had completely forgotten about the weekenders. Of course, that was a thing! Now I'm nostalgic for those because I always wanted to go. But back then I wasn't able to afford it, nowadays I would. Such a shame to have missed out on it.

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

I can't imagine the authors check B&C but most people are on some form of social media so they'd probably be aware of some things, good or bad. I can understand why BL would adopt an unofficial policy of steering clear.

 

It is sad that GW's success has come at such a cost in so many ways. Going mainstream never works out for anyone other than the executives and Blackrock/Vanguard. 

[Ubiquitous1984]

Those events were so exciting.  I only went to two but I’d look forward to it for weeks in advance!

[darkhorse0607]

I think as a whole, BL kind of views it as "they'll just be happy when they get something." Its by and large what you see on YouTube comments, IG, etc. Yeah they'll be "oh I wish we got this" but it never rises to levels of people complaining that they haven't gotten x,y, or z model 

 

Granted, I do believe that some of the authors or staff might go digging on different places (here, Reddit, etc) to get ideas or look at feedback but I dont believe that is common 

 

At least thats how I perceive it

[Felix Antipodes]

It should come as no surprise that GW, and BL personnel and talent in particular, avoid social media.  Just look at this forum and all the persistent “I hate everything XXXX writes and I hope they never get another commission”.  And this is an extremely well moderated forum.  I have perused plenty of forums, reddits, etc, in my time and there is a reason that B+C is the only one I still visit on a regular basis.

 

As to the question posed by the OP, I don’t doubt that GW have someone (or more likely an AI bot) that skims the various social media as a form of finger on the pulse, but nowadays sales figures are probably their main indicator of direction.  I’d love to see a return of the Weekenders, etc, though.  Even for we fans in faraway corners of the world,  who could only dream of attending them, they produced plenty of excitement and reporting via the forums to keep us happy.

 

I well remember the halcyon days of old where everybody and his dog had a blog or webpage.  They soon realised that (a) they took up an inordinate amount of time to fill and maintain, or (b) they really didn’t have much to say (or couldn’t because of the increasing number of NDA’s they were under).

[Nagashsnee]

I dont think the ammount of time BL people spend online has changed, only the level of public engagement. 

 

I fondly remember hitting Gav Thrope up on war seer to settle a battlefleet gothic rules despite, and he not only answered and settled it (can a imperial navy ship have a nova cannon AND a power ram, yes of course!) but asked about the game and my experience playing it.

 

I not fondly remember BL senior staff having choice public words about certain online forums back when these were actually BIG and central hubs of the community. 

 

Even on here you still get the ocassional writter pop up with a comment. 

 

As @Felix Antipodes said they learned the hard way that enganging with the community is walking into a damn minefield. Not just for warhammer but any fandom. And unless being paid to do so the negatives will usually drown any positives out. 

 

But even today if you talk to the writers at the ocassional book signing or something, many of them DO keep a eye on public reception and discussion.

[Ubiquitous1984]

I work in an industry that has a lot of communities online talk about it, the industry is quite unpopular and controversial overall, I won’t go into specifics!  However from experience many people working in the industry monitor the forums, facebook groups etc.  Many of them post undercover.  Some others will deliberately provoke the other side of the debate using undercover aliases!

 

The main reason for observing the communities is for free market research and to be ahead of any brewing issues that are forming.  

 

So I’d be shocked if BL people aren’t actively checking in on here from time to time.  Even if it’s just morbid curiosity.

 

I know that the authors will be!!

Edited January 24 by Ubiquitous1984

[Fedor]

They definitely did during the 2000's (particularly via the official BL forum) and early-mid 2010's during the peak of message boards and early social media days.

 

But gazing into the abyss takes a heavy toll.

 

 

[Lorehunter]

On 1/23/2026 at 9:36 AM, Tolmeus said:

As a BL reader, it is of course a shame that there are no more Black Library Weekenders, monthly/quarterly previews, interactions with authors on social media or BL events.

 

 

 

You're not wrong about a lot of this, but I would like to note that there's a vibrant slice of the Black Library author's community over on BlueSky. I maintain a nice 'starter pack' of their accounts over there, and interactions with many are frequent. It's got a nice vibe.