An Open Message to Authors (was, How Can I Get Your Attention?)

[Mom of 4]

One thing to add: A couple of people here mentioned that they like it when authors promote other authors. This is great when it's natural and unforced. However, on the flip side of that, it is completely obvious when there's some shady quid pro quo deal going on. We can tell.

THANK YOU!  This really bugs me!  It is really obvious!

[MichelleR]

Thank you, this is VEry helpful and appeciated.

I just posted a notice of my book last night, and have been puzzling over this (eg, I'm not a computer-savvy-type and couldn't figure out how to make a link to the book, but with the help of a comment below I figured it out now. Though, I seem to have TWo pics, and don't know why yet).

Thanks again.

Now I'm wondering: Is it 'smart marketing' or 'bad form' to add a link to my book when I write a reply like this?

Andrew Cort

I like links to books in sigs. It reminds me that the poster is a writer without doing the hard sell.

I vote against an author board. I run a board with similar software, and new boards tend to take while to take off and zap a little bit of vitality from the boards where those posts used to go.

[MichelleR]

I somewhat admitted this when I said on another post that I had never bought Harlequin books because I didn't like most of their covers - then Amazon offered some free books that I tried and enjoyed now my eyes are open to the fact that I was apparently a cover snob and was missing out on some good books.

It was the covers and not the "Swarthy Greek Millionaire's Blonde Virgin Pregnant Mistress" titles? 

(Yeah, yeah, I read them and the books can be good, but those titles...)

[pidgeon92]

Independent authors might find this helpful:

Kindle Formatting: The Complete Guide



$19.95 for the paperback version.... $9.99 for the Kindle version.

[Leslie]

Thanks for that link, Pidgeon.

L

[RJ Keller]

THANKS(!!!!) pidgeon92!!!
I'm definitely checking that out.

[Leslie]

Bumping this. I'm still interested in keeping the discussion going. Thoughts, anyone?

L

[Zeronewbury]

As an unpublished author, I'm watching this thread.

[Anju No. 469]

I absolutely love this thread.  Everyone has said exactly the way I feel about authors and promotion.  Looks like a lot of our new authors are reading this and wanting to follow our suggestions - way to go folks.

I was for the idea of a special board for authors, but after reading the reasons for not having an author's ghetto I understand.  But sometimes I hate wading through this board to get to the meat,  i.e., this thread.  That being said, this board is so much easier to follow than other boards I have been on.

[Steph H]

I really don't want to have a separate author's board (although if we did, it should be a child board of this one, not a totally separate one), but it would be nice if there were some basic 'gentleman's rules' that the authors might follow with regard to repeated spamming/bumping on their own threads within the same day. Most of them do a pretty good job of self-regulating, as well as participating in other threads in a way that is pleasant, but there are a few that over-promote and do nothing but promote, and it gets a little old.  Perhaps author peer pressure would help with that so that the few don't ruin it for the many...

[Anju No. 469]

One thing I have noticed lately - and I just bet it is because kindleboard is so popular and effective - more and more authors are coming over to the KB.  Could it be because we are such voracious readers and will read anything and they want to grab us 

I do think though that each author should be gently pointed in this direction, I noticed one mod already doing that and I thank you for it.  I dislike going to the Intro thread and have nothing but authors and their reviews, it is difficult to welcome them when I feel they are only here to sell their works.  "I don't have a kindle but here is my book or reviews" -nothing about future kindles, wanting a kindle, and so on.  Sure we have had some authors here who don't/didn't have kindles, but they were a part of the community, looked for eggs, commiserated on waiting for K2s and batteries and joined our parties.

sorry folks / rant over / going to go read The Treasure of La Malinche by one of my very favorite great grandaughter babysitter author.

[chynared21]

I really don't want to have a separate author's board (although if we did, it should be a child board of this one, not a totally separate one), but it would be nice if there were some basic 'gentleman's rules' that the authors might follow with regard to repeated spamming/bumping on their own threads within the same day. Most of them do a pretty good job of self-regulating, as well as participating in other threads in a way that is pleasant, but there are a few that over-promote and do nothing but promote, and it gets a little old.  Perhaps author peer pressure would help with that so that the few don't ruin it for the many...

I'd go for a child board but I'd still have to wade through those posts. Normally I click on the new posts since last visit and I skip over those threads that I know will have the same thing in them. It's kind of tedious but not as time consuming as clicking in and only finding a review or another push for the book.

[intinst]

This issue is making me rethink the idea of an ignore button for the board, some authors just don't understand the idea of a soft sell. Thus the comparison to the used car dealer ads.

[jrreardon]

Hi everyone!  I'm new here - you have a great thread going!

Jeannine
http://www.amazon.com/Confidential-Communications-J-R-Reardon/dp/1436335876/ref=ed_oe_p
http://www.amazon.com/Confidential-Communications/dp/B0024NLKR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1239144889&sr=1-1

[Thumper]

I was for the idea of a special board for authors, but after reading the reasons for not having an author's ghetto I understand. 

Same here...I'd hate to think an author's board would be me and one guy whose participation was endless posts of his own reviews. I can go to the Amazon board for that.

[sherylb]

OK, I'm going out on a limb here but I had a few days off and when I came back here, I was overwhelmed with the amount of book spam going on. Mods, if you want to delete this, go ahead but I just have to get it off my chest! 

Authors-

Stop posting every review you ever received in your book thread.

If your book is good, we WILL find it and buy it but not because you keep posting reviews you have received.

I understand you want to keep your book in front of us, and you posting in your thread will bump the thread to the top, but I for one WILL NOT BUY YOUR BOOK IF YOU MAKE ME MAD BY ENDLESS REVIEW POSTINGS!!!  And no, I do not have to read the postings but I do have to wade through them to get to the ones I do want to read.

Give us a break and be a member of our community by participating in threads other than your book threads or to push your books. It does not count if you turn the conversation back to you and your books, or participate by just thanking everyone who ever wrote something in your thread.

Rant over.



 

[geoffthomas]

I like your rant, Sherylb.
And to illustrate. Some of us have found that we like Jeffry Hepple's The Treasure of La Malinche.
Sailor did a review and a video voice over that is on his site and started a thread here recently to provide a link to it.
And I became motivated enough by her work and how much I enjoyed Jeff's work that I started a Discussion Thread today about the books. And those books have recently appeared in the What are we reading thread with positive reviews.  Now that is how authors get exposure by readers who like the work and saying so.  Self promotion wears thin as has been said.
Just sayin.......

[David J. Guyton]

About posting reviews in threads:

I can see how this can become annoying over time, but I don't see a problem with doing it occasionally. Honestly, how is a reader (or a new KB member) supposed to know about some buried thread about a book if the author can't occasionally post the latest news? Sometimes a review IS the latest news. Other than that, an author can really only report on his/her progress in their latest book. And that can be pretty boring to hear about.

The kind people at KB allow authors a single thread for each of their books. If you see a thread you don't want to read, just ignore it. I ignore many posts on many forums every day. Keep in mind that for every time you see an old thread, someone is probably just seeing it for the first time. Personally I like seeing reviews in threads. I don't have a list of all the books from all the authors from all the forums that I check daily for new reviews of their books. I just don't have that kind of time and I'd rather see two paragraphs posted by a proud author from a review given to them by a thrilled reader.

If an author is only pushing their book, and not participating in discussions, sure, that's over the line. But are you positive they aren't participating in other discussions? I don't look through every post in every thread in every category to see what someone is posting.

[Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson]

One of the things that makes an author different than most non-authors is the extreme demands on his/her time. I think too many people assume that authors are self-obsessed people who only want to talk about their books. That may be true to some extent. But sadly, most authors have very little time in which to socialize on websites such as these and do their best to participate as well as they can (which can often end up being a book pitch). Many authors work more than one full-time job, have families to take care of, go to school, and still try to sneak in a few minutes every day so that they can write. Unfortunately, sometimes it is all they can do to post the latest review of their book or respond to someone's reply in order to keep their books in the public eye.

It is nearly impossible for most authors to spend more than a few minutes at a time on the slew of book and social networking sites. With inboxes stuffed with a steady stream of emails, myspace, twitter, facebook, goodreads, shelfari, librarything, mobilereads, authorsden, and countless other sites vying for an authors attention, is it any surprise that he or she cannot spare the time to engage other forumites in the endless threads that are being created everyday?

I think it's kind of unfair to tell an author how he/she should market their books when every person reacts differently to an author's promotional style. One person may not like seeing reviews on an author's thread, while the next prefers that the author not promote his book in his signature. In fact, many people are offended by the thought of an author creating a thread in which to promote his book. There are just too many people to please for an author to get it right all of the time.

I think what makes a discussion forum like Kindle Boards so wonderful is that it offers its members the freedom to browse and engage in a variety of subject-related discussions. If you don't like a particular thread or the way an authors promotes his book on his thread, you have the power to ignore the thread.

I personally don't have the time to visit every thread that appears on this site and have to carefully select which ones are worthy of my precious time. I don't think others will find it very difficult to do the same thing.

[Harvey]

Kevis, I think there is some validity to what you say (although I think everyone is busy these days, not just authors - - we all just make different choices about how and where we spend our precious time).

But the main point here is, the purpose of the Book Corner board is for readers to talk about books. That's what gives it its energy, and it's also why it's an appealing place for authors to be. So with that in mind we are expecting authors to follow our guidelines if they wish to participate in that board.

[pidgeon92]

I think it's kind of unfair to tell an author how he/she should market their books when every person reacts differently to an author's promotional style.

When they are posting on someone else's website or forum, people who are promoting something ought to follow whatever guidelines are in effect on that site. If the site becomes overrun with promotional postings, members may get fed up and not return.

[Betsy the Quilter]

David,

Thanks for your thoughtful response both as an author and a reader.

Here's another point of view as a member and as a moderator.  (I do occasionally read posts just for fun, you know, I'm not ALWAYS the off-topic police.  )

First, we want this to be a place where authors and readers can bump elbows.  And we want authors to feel welcome.  But the overall intent for the Book Corner was that it would be a place where members could discuss books: books in general, books in particular.  As well as books with authors.  We want to strike a balance that leaves room for everyone.

This is a boom time for KindleBoards, lots of new members, lots of new authors posting. Many, if not most, of our members do as I do, click on "Show New Posts" to see what to read; an author's post will show up until either I look at it, mark all posts as read, or the database resets, so it's not quite as simple as "ignore" the posts I don't want to read when the page is filled with bumped posts.  At the same time, your point is well taken, that new members might be interested in older posts.  That's why we're not opposed to occasional bumps in the night.  

I don't think that reviews as such are a problem; but most book posts, if available on Amazon, have a link to Amazon and the Amazon reviews are readily available there.  I, for one, would prefer that the Amazon reviews remain at Amazon.  However, if the NY Times reviews your book (as an extreme) by all means posts it.  Or a site devoted to books in your genre or whatever.  Or if you get an award.  Use your good judgment.  As I said in another thread, posts that are bumped too often start to not be seen or are seen negatively. That serves neither author nor member.

If we all work together, we'll find a balance that is good for everyone here at KindleBoards.

Betsy

[pidgeon92]

If an author is only pushing their book, and not participating in discussions, sure, that's over the line. But are you positive they aren't participating in other discussions? I don't look through every post in every thread in every category to see what someone is posting.

If you check a member's profile, you can see all of the posts they make, in order by date. This makes it very easy to weed out members who use the forum for advertising only (not just authors, we've had people sign up to peddle all sorts of stuff).

[MichelleR]

Kevis,
This is a case of "don't shoot the messenger." I know there might be details in this thread that might distress you, because it's not what you want to read, but that doesn't mean the words are false or meant to put writers on the defensive.

Readers are being honest about what appeals to them. Is there a preferred alternative to that? Dishonesty? Silence?

I get that there are only so many hours in the day and lots of things that need doing. I don't think the overall message here is that writers need to sit  around here in an online coffee klatch. However, the truth remains that nobody wants to feel like someone only comes around when they need money. Some writers come off exactly that way. Even if a writer only posts here once in a blue moon, there's a way to come across as friendly.

Coming here is a form of publicity for a writer. It's sales. I don't think anyone is naive on that point. I don't know about you, but I've walked out of places with pushy salespeople. I've also been charmed by other salespeople. They probably all want my money just as much, but the latter group gets it. Good salespeople have a way with words, and so should good writers. A pushy artless sales technique makes me predisposed to distrust the writer's abilities.

That's not to say that even the clumsiest of techniques won't sell some books. A better technique gives you those same sales and more. If you do it right, you will come across as friendly and personable with pretty much the same post count as the guy (or gal) who's doing it wrong. That's better value for your time and more people willing to take a chance.

You're right that no writer can strike the perfect note all of the time. Just like no writer can ever write the perfect book. But you try, right? You work on being a better writer every time you sit down. It's not about being perfect, but aiming higher. It seems short-sighted to look at responses to this form of writing and say, "you don't like it? Lump it!" Not when there's information to be had that, if taken, will easily make more people "like it."

If you think people are saying you need to live here, you're missing the point. If you're only response is, "yeah, well, can't please everybody so I'm going to keep doing the same thing," then you're missing sales.

[Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson]

Harvey and everyone else,

Everyone here on Kindle Boards have been very kind to me and I do understand the need for rules. In fact, I try to limit myself to one "bump" post every 3-4 days. But I will sometimes post in between if I have some new information about my book. I also have found that it isn't necessary to bump my book thread to the top of the discussion forum every single day, because there are others who find they have something to say about my book and do so on their own accord.

I would also add that one of the reasons why I promote my book in my signature, is because even though I am happy about my book, it does get boring talking about one's book all the time. I do venture outside of my book thread every now and then to engage in some healthy conversation (topics like this one for an example).

I truly appreciate having a discussion like this since it does help to shed light on an issue before it turns into a problem. I, for one, would never want to wear out my welcome.