I understand authors promote as much as they can, hoping someone will see their post, buy their book and write a rave review; hence, producing more sales. In a perfect world that would be ideal. But in this imperfect world, full of competition; authors need to tread carefully when promoting.
So when do authors realize they've crossed the line of annoyance and over-promotions?
Let's see if we can count the ways.
- Peek-A-Boo- Guess who? Open an email to a group. SHAZAM! There they are. Log into your social network for updates. BAMM! Hit again. Scroll through some blog posts. WHACK! Strike three! And all this occurred within two minutes. Yes, that is overkill. If people see your name every day in at least ten places within a short period of time, I can guarantee they are completely oblivious to your name now or they roll their eyes. We have all done that, admit it.
- Like Me, No like Me- Putting calls out to 'like' everything that author has out. How important is it to have 316 followers? Fifteen gold stars? Or 23 likes for every book you have on that website? Do they really help? What do they say? Are they earned honestly or legitimately? Or are they favors? More than likely favors but what are friends, fellow co-workers and family for? Certain stars on certain sites do have some status for authors (ARe's silver star, etc) but the star may only mean that for one day, you had great sales. That one day of good sales leaves the star with your book. That is great news and please feel free to share but keep it low-key. Do your private happy dance, post on social networks and be happy, you have conquered another level in your career. But please don't ask/beg/plead for people to rush over and 'like' it. What if I don't like the book? I know by now I'm upsetting some readers/authors of this blog but I want my skill and writing ability to earn me that status not begging, sympathy or a popularity contest.
- Vote For Me Syndrome- Speaking of popularity contests (we've all done it, shamelessly), we've all had a cover, a novel, a something up for an award. And what's the first line of action we take? We are inflicted with the Vote-for-me-itis illness. We rush to every corner of the Internet and ask people to vote for me. And what do we do as friends? We go to the designated website, scroll down to find the Vote-For-Me person...but wait! What's this? Another author you really like is listed there? And you're only allowed one vote. Who do you pick? Please, don't put people in this predicament. Yes it is very NICE to win an award, it is an honor but did you win by your own merit? It's like being back in high school and we're voting for Prom Queen. Never was prom queen, or even a contender,and I wouldn't want to be. I just want to be me, not a persona people believe me to be.
- The Blog Monster- There comes a time when you overextend yourself and your viewers/fans. I can understand when you have a new release coming out that you want to guest post on many various blogs- to help share the joy of the book but when you are on two or three blogs every day of the week? When you have all these daily blog posts, how many comments are made? Is it really worth the time and effort to post? Take a break. See what happens. Put all that writing effort into your newest WIP, take a writing course, relax... just stop blogging us to death.
- I'm In YaHell- Like most authors, I belong to about 150- yahoo author and reader groups. Do I post in them every day? No. How often do I post personal promotions in these groups? Maybe once every week, once every 10 days- if I'm lucky. Look around at the groups you're posting in. Is it readers posting and commenting back to you? Or is it other authors doing drive-by promotions? Chances are 99.7% of it is authors posting promos and releases and then you have to ask yourself this- are readers seeing it? These loops are so over-saturated with promotion posts that even if I did post on a daily or weekly basis, I don't think I could find my own posts among all the other promos.
Ok, so it wasn't a complete 12-step posting but you get the idea here.
*This blog post was meant out of humor. No particular author was harmed while writing this blog. No names were used to prevent finger-pointing and whispering behind backs. This was just a gentle reminder to all promoters, authors and industry people... take it slow and don't overkill your audience.
This reminds me of the people who come to work and say "Oh by the way, my daughter is selling girl scout cookies! Would you like to buy some?". *chuckle*
ReplyDeleteEven in the simplest ways of daily life, we tend to 'push' things onto people. Great way to lose connections in the industry and brand yorself as overzealous.
DeleteThanks Dawne. It is important to remember it. I've seen that with many of the yahoo groups. I want to find readers not necessarily other writers (those I have found and love)...where do you suggest I look?
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying to completely stop promoting in the groups Melissa but just take a day to see how many other authors are in there doing the same thing. It is over-crowded. Maybe find a few new groups to start. Good reads is good too... more to com eon this topic in the next few weeks. Where are the readers?
DeleteGreat post. :) I'm new and still learning, but I try to do my best not to get on anyone's nerves. :) You gave some good pointers. I think twitter is one of the biggest places I get annoyed. I like to get on there and just chat, but there are some authors who all they do is have stuff about their books. Though I find it annoying, I sometimes sneak a look at that ranks and will see they're best sellers. So does it work? I can't bring myself to annoy though.
ReplyDeleteTwitter is an awesome place to interact with readers. That is what they (readers) like... interaction.
DeleteROFLMAO!! YES! We've all been there in at least one category or more. Me, included. But I learned my lesson. Thank you, Dawne for the most honest post EVER and one of the funnest and most entertaining ones I've read. Come on, everyone, fess up and realize that Dawne is giving you excellent advice about marketing. Less truly is more. Beautifully written and hilarious. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
ReplyDeleteSo glad I could make you laugh Jean- I knew a few would pick up on my sardonic humor and have a chuckle in the morning.
DeleteThis post wasn't meant to be cruel or anything else, just a humorous look at what WE HAVE all done at least once. Guilty here too... but lesson learned.
Hey Dawne,
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful post and I do hope authors take heed. The line between promoting and screaming "buy my stuff!" can be so thin sometimes. It'd help if more people had that neat thing called common sense. ;)
Many authors use common sense when promoting, it's generally just a handful that seem to step over that proverbial nuisance line. If it's working for them, then I applaud their efforts.
DeleteFrom what you mentioned I don't think I over promote. The yahoo groups I used to do once a week now its maybe twice a month or once a month.
ReplyDeleteNo, that is plenty Jodi- but every auhtor has to find his or her zone and level of comfort with promoting. And I agree, you don't promote too much
DeleteThanks I sure hope I don't.
ReplyDeleteNo, you don't. I know so many authors that would love to have your fan base Jodi. Whatever you're doing, you're doing it right
DeleteI agree with all of this! There are a few authors who have earned their way onto my "never-buy" list by bombarding loops with promo (sometimes several times a day on the same loops), begging constantly for votes, etc.
ReplyDeleteA couple things you didn't mention that's also put some authors on that list of mine: Sending private messages on Facebook, etc., or even private emails pimping your work (I don't want advertisements in my inbox, thanks), and adding me to newsletter mailing lists without my permission.
Oh Karenna- don't you just love (yes, sarcasm here) how they send you a 'loop' email or message asking you to like their page, vote for them, etc- that is an immediate reason for me to NOT 'like' them, buy their books or follow their postings
DeleteI especially appreciate where you put the like portion. I always see posts where people are asking to like their book. I did an informal poll with fans to get their take on it and a lot of them didn't even know there was a like thing on top and most of them didn't pay attention to it.
ReplyDelete'Liking'someone in a manner of speaking, is decision I will make. I don't appreciate some of the tactics authors use to gather fans.
DeleteLike everyone else I loved the post and as the old expression goes, it's funny because its true.
ReplyDeleteI don't promote nearly as much as some people, and have started to feel like what I do do is worth nothing. It's given much more weight than it's worth, in my opinion.
I was part of a 'Like' party, which was a good idea and it raised my 'like' numbers, but really, what good is that? How many sales did it cause? I'm willing to bet, not a one. I have like 38 likes now, but how many of them actually read the book? Again, probably none.
I felt a little guilty going through and 'liking' everyones, not even taking time to look at the titles of some. So what is that 'Like' worth? Nothing. It devalues those that actually read and enjoyed the book so much that they clicked on 'Like.' It presents false information.
And for the postings in group and such, you are exactly right. The audience is largely authors. How many sales are going to be made to other authors? Not a lot. We're authors, we can't afford to buy everyone's book.
i'm guilty myself, some of the author's know my name, but how many regular citizens have I reached? And they are the real audience.
What a powerful statement Mike "It devalues those that actually read and enjoyed the book so much that they clicked on 'Like.' It presents false information"
ReplyDeleteAnd so true here "some of the author's know my name, but how many regular citizens have I reached? And they are the real audience"
Thank you for commenting