Why Self-Promotion Shouldn't Be a Dirty Word

Okay, so today I'm talking about something that I've touched on briefly before on my author blog, but after reading this post by the lovely and talented Lydia Sharp (who you should all follow on Twitter because she tweets some of the best stuff for writers), I thought I would expand on it here.

Lydia's post is about how we'll always need blogs for writers, which I agree with. I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't found blogs when I started querying two years ago. Bloggers were my writing saviors. But one of the things Lydia talks about in her post is authors promoting their books on their blogs.

Here are her thoughts:

"I do not blog about writing as a way to sell my books. I bet a lot of you didn't even know I have books out there available to purchase. I do. But that's not what this blog is about. This isn't my 'author blog', this is my writing blog -- a blog for writers. It's about writing and reading and publishing and how all of those go hand in hand.And just between you and me, it kind of annoys me when I see 'buy my book' pimpage in my Google Reader. I'm not following those blogs because I want to buy the author's book. If I want to buy your book, I'll find your book on my own, I'm not stupid, I know how to click on a link in your sidebar and how to use an Amazon search box..."

This part of her post inspired me to write today's post because I think this idea that authors shouldn't promote their own work on their own blog is a little extreme. When Nathan Bransford did a tongue and cheek post promoting his book, people jumped his case and I didn't understand all the ire. (I blogged about that here.)

I totally get that we don't want to be beat over the head with advertisements and book spam. God knows there are people out there who do it all day long on Twitter and such. And my guess is that those types of self-promoters are who many people are frustrated with. Obviously, that is the wrong way to go. Social networking and blogging are about building relationships and community. However, I also think swinging so far in the other direction in that promoting your own work at all is some sort of insult to your followers is a bit ludicrous.

I am a service-minded person. I genuinely write this blog hoping that my posts provide you guys with solid information or something to think about or tips or whatever it is that day. I take a lot of time to (hopefully) provide you with quality content. And I have kept my writing blog a writing blog and started a separate author blog because I didn't want to bait and switch you by changing the focus once I needed more of a broad online presence.

I enjoy the blogging process. I enjoy talking with everyone and hearing people's feedback on different topics. I love the blogging and social networking community.

BUT I also hope to sell books so that I can continue to follow my passion and do what I love for a living. And  if I told my agent or editor that I wasn't going to promote my book on my writing blog that I've spent two years building, they would look at me like I had grown a third head.

And I understand the thought of--you don't need to talk about your book because if I want to see if you have a book, I'll go look for it. But really, that's not the case in a lot of ways. If it's not obvious, I'm not going to go hunt down to see if a blogger I like has a book out. I don't  have that much time on my hands and there are hundreds of books I want to buy at any given moment. So if I have to "work" to find out if there is a book, I'm probably not going to.

I WANT bloggers I like to tell me about their book. No, I don't need a weekly post about it and a thousand "check out this latest review" tweets. (One of my personal goals is that once my book comes out, I don't turn into someone who only talks about things having to do with my book. I've seen that happen to many a blogger who transitioned from pre-pubbed to post-pubbed.) But mentioning your book and talking about it on occasion are good. Having a book link in your sidebar and even at the bottom of your posts (like I do below because you can't see sidebars in google reader) is a good way to advertise your book without smacking people in the face with it.

If someone stops by my blog for the very first time, I want it to be glaringly obvious that I have a book if they are interested. They shouldn't have to hunt the info down.

And I refuse to feel ashamed or apologetic about promoting my own book on my own blog. Blogging is a give and take relationship. I expect when I go to someone's blog that I am taking away something (information, a laugh, whatever) and in exchange I'm giving that blogger my attention to their platform/their book/whatever it is they may be promoting. It doesn't mean that I have to buy their book, but it means that I have to expect to be exposed to it.

So what are some things you can do to make sure you don't become one of THOSE people who give self-promotion a bad name?

6 Ways to Promote That Won't Make People Want To Punch You in the Face

1. Make sure your online content offers something to your reader. 

You are writing these posts for them. It is not about your own agenda. This is why posts in which the blogger whines about something never work. You're not offering the reader anything, you're looking for someone to soothe you--not a good blog post.

2. Be a cheerleader for others.

Like Lydia suggests in her post, promote other people's stuff if you've enjoyed it whether that be a book or a blog post or whatever.

3. Once you are published, do not contract "published author disease."

This disease is characterized by only posting about YOUR book ALL THE TIME and linking to review after review, awards, contests giving away your book, and what magazines you've made it into, etc. Some of that is fine because you're excited and want to a share. But make sure that kind of stuff is no more than 10-15% of the content/tweets/etc. you're putting out there.

4. Expand your online presence in a way that doesn't alienate your original readers and followers.

I knew I needed more of a reader-focused blog once my book was getting closer to publication. I needed a place where non-writing readers would want to visit and hopefully hang out. Had I kept this blog more broad in its focus, I could've just expanded that here. (Ah, hindsight.) But I hadn't. This was a writing blog. So instead of pulling the rug out from under that, I started a separate author blog on my website and kept this one the same. That way people could choose which kind of content they wanted.

5. Promote your books in a way that is very visible but still subtle.

I don't blatantly blog about my book unless I'm revealing a cover or blurb or something. I will, however, have a big fat glaring post the day it releases, just warning ya. ;) But in general, having a clickable cover in the sidebar, a book page with buy links, and a link at the bottom of each post (so that people who only read you in a reader can click) are all unobtrusive but effective ways to go about it.

6. Be genuine, friendly, and helpful.

Of all the things above, this is the most important. Social networking is about building genuine relationships. We can all spot a faker a hundred yards away.

So how do you guys feel about self-promotion? Do you get annoyed if a blogger talks about their book or are you fine with the give-and-take relationship? What are some self-promotion methods that you think are effective and non-annoying? What makes you want to punch someone in the face? :)

Writer Under Construction - 10 Things I'd Do Differently

I feel like over the last few months (and even now) I should have yellow and black construction tape wrapped around my head. Just like anything else in life this whole being a writer thing is a learning process. You do the best you can as you go along and do better when you know better.

And the hard part is that no one is really sure what the right way is anyhow. There's a lot of advice out there (including the stuff on this here blog). But for every post you find, you can find one contradicting it. It's both beautiful and terrifying that there is no definitive way to do things.

And this is most evident when looking at advice for building your platform and blogging.

Some things you'll hear out there...

Don't just write about writing because you're only reaching other writers. 

Write about writing because readers aren't visiting author blogs anyway, so you should hook into the network of writers.

Don't get a website until you have a book to sell.

Have a website when you start querying because agents will look you up.

Don't do group blogs because no one will know your name.

Do group blogs because it will free up more time for writing.

Social networking is the only way to be a successful authors these days.

Social networking doesn't matter, the only thing that counts is writing a good book.

You must have your blog on _______ (fill in the blank) --wordpress, blogger, your own domain, tumblr

And the people behind each of these views have totally valid points to back up their case. So I can't tell you who is right or wrong. But I will tell you what I've learned in my two years of blogging and along the journey of going from very pre-published to preparing for my debut.

How I'd Do Things Differently If I Did It All Over Again

1. Build your blog where you want to keep it.

This is the one that has caused be much grief these last few months. I built this blog on blogger. And I like blogger. I find it an easy, no-fuss blogging platform. I also like the community on blogger and love the people I've met over here. However, blogger isn't really set up to integrate with a real website once you have one. And moving your followers (and archives and permalinks) to a new place (unless you move to Wordpress) is pretty much impossible from what I can tell.

This doesn't feel like a big deal when you're just starting out and are happy to have fifty followers. But blogs can grow fast. I've pretty much locked myself into blogger now unless I want to start all over again. So that's why I've had to move to maintaining two blogs.

2. Don't limit yourself to one kind of topic like writing.

This is one Kristen Lamb has talked about recently. And I tend to agree. I made this a writing blog. I'm happy I did and I don't think I would have built the following I have if I had started up a blog without a unified focus. However, this approach does box you in a bit. When I wanted to start stretching so that my posts appealed not just to writers but to non-writing readers, I was left in a bit of a quandary. Some of you would be totally fine with me putting both romance-y posts (like my Boyfriends of the Week) mixed in with the writing stuff. And honestly, if I could've figured out a way to merge and move my blogs, I probably would've done that. But I also know many of you aren't really coming here for that type of posts and are only here for the writing stuff. It would've been a bit of a bait and switch. So that's why if I had to do it over again, I'd still blog about writing, but I'd mix in the other stuff as well from the very beginning so that everyone knew what to expect.

3. Only do the social networks you enjoy.

There is so much out there to connect with. I feel like sometimes it's like being in a bed strapped to all those machines and tubes in a hospital. Except all the wires are attached to our brain. It can become too much. So pick which social networks you like the best and focus on those. I like blogging, twitter, and tumblr. So that's where I put my effort. Yes, I'm also on facebook and google+ and goodreads, but anything I post at any of those is really just a feed from my other sites. If I totally dialed into all of them, I'd never get anything else done.

4. Think hard about the kind of books you want to write and what that author brand would look like.

This isn't always possible. I started out writing YA and ended up getting pubbed in erotic romance. o.0 Yeah, I know. Big leap. But this also meant my brand kind of shifted midway through. I'm always me, but I'm talking more about topics I covered and the "look" of my websites. I'm getting pubbed in dark, erotic romance and I had this bright, colorful Fiction Groupie blog. It didn't really jive. So that's why I eventually changed it to match the feel of my website. So if you know you're going to be writing dark horror, don't build your site with sparkles and puppies. You're not going to attract the people that are actually going to want to read your book.

5. Do hook into the community of writers.

I actually got this one right. Writing can be a very solitary act. I don't know if I'd have survived it through writing my books if I hadn't found lovely writer friends and crit partners. This is by far the best thing about blogging and social networking.

6. None of it matters if you're not writing and working on your craft.

Duh. I know. But it's SO easy to get so caught up in the social networking that you start sucking up your writing time. I have fallen into this trap because I love blogging and twitter. But writing has to come first. This is why I've been shifting around my blog schedule so often lately as I try to find the right balance.

7. Put your name on things and reserve your web domain early.

When I started I was just Fiction Groupie. I didn't want to put my name out there and *gasp* have people actually know that I was attempting to write something. What if I failed? But this was a mistake. You are your brand. Kristen Lamb says it best when she says, you can't go into the store and look for a book from Fiction Groupie. People need to know your name. Otherwise, what brand are you building? (And you'll notice I put the Fiction Groupie title back at the top this week. But I have my name on top. Now that I've decided to keep this a writing blog, I figured it needed it's name back to decipher it from my author blog.) 

As for web domain, go into this with the expectation that you will one day be published. You don't want to miss out on having yourname.com because you didn't spend the twenty bucks a year it costs to reserve it. So get thee to a service like Go Daddy and spend a few bucks to hold on to that name. 

8. If you plan to use a pen name pick one and use it early.

Made this mistake too. I used my real name for the first year that I blogged. Then when I decided to write erotic romance and wanted a pen name, I had to change EVERYTHING. Domains, email addresses, facebook, twitter, yadda yadda yadda. It was a major pain. Luckily, I kept my first name so everyone knew me as Roni and that didn't change. But on the logistic side, it was a bit of a nightmare.

9. Trust your gut and weed through advice.

Sometimes you (and by that I mean I) can get caught up in the "expert" opinions. Like I said at the beginning of this post. There is not RIGHT way to do things. Read the advice that's out there and then use what resonates with you. Different things work for different people. No one thing is going to work for everyone. So take things as guidance not gospel. (There is irony in me giving advice about not taking all advice. Hmm.)

10. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

I'm a control freak. That's not going to change. I tried a group blog on Tumblr and it quickly fell into feeling like I was back in high school working on a group project where I wanted to keep everyone on task. Not good. However, I knew when I decided that I was going to keep this blog on writing while maintaining an author blog as well that I was going to have to ask for help.

So this is where I get to the exciting news part of this post (if you've made it this far in this LONG post, lol). I am implementing a new feature here on Fiction Groupie. Every Monday we are going to have regularly occurring guests who are authors in genres other than mine. They are author friends who I know are great at posting about writing craft and publishing and I am SO excited to be bringing people with fresh and different perspectives to the blog.

So here's what the new schedule is going to look like starting next week:

Monday: Guest post from one of our Monthly Genre Columnists 

Wednesday: Writing/Publishing Post from me 

Friday: Fill-Me-In Friday -- best links of the week 

Tuesday and Thursday, I'll be posting on my author blog.

So join me in welcoming our five new stellar guest contributors!

♥ 

Julie Cross

 - YA Debut Author

(first Mondays)

♥ 

Ashley March

 - Historical Romance Author

(2nd Mondays)

♥ 

Suzanne Johnson

 - Debut Urban Fantasy Author

(3rd Mondays)

♥ 

Joan Swan

 -Suspense/Thrillers - Debut Romantic Suspense

(4th Mondays)

♥ 

Sierra Godfrey

 - Women's Fiction & Marketing

(5th Mondays)

See all their

bios and books here

!

I hope that you all are as excited as I am about the new re-re-re-revamping. :)  Thanks for sticking with me through all my changing as I continue to figure things out as I go along.

Now, I'd love to hear what you've learned since you started this whole writing thing. What would you do differently? Do any of the points on my list scare you? Oh, and if anyone knows any brilliant way to combine my blogs all onto my squarespace and still keep followers and archives, let me know--I'll love you forever.

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All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

The Successful Author Blog - Is It A Myth?

Last week I talked about what I learned from Kristen Lamb's talk on social media. One of the things that became a well-discussed point in the comments and then on Kristen's follow up post was the suggestion that authors shouldn't have a blog about writing. Not to say you should never talk about writing, but that you shouldn't have a writing specific blog (like this one, lol.) Kristen's point is that you are only reaching a small niche audience if you stick to writing topics (other writers) and you're missing the opportunity to reach a much wider group of potential readers.

So I totally get her point. Even though, like I said in the original post, I do not regret doing this blog because it has brought me wonderful friends and great opportunities I wouldn't have otherwise.

But this did leave me thinking--okay, so how do I adjust and broaden my platform? Part of what I do is my author blog where I focus more on romance-friendly stuff and photos of hot men on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I'm not blogging here. (My job is such a hardship, right?) But am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing?

So of course, I wanted to research who was doing it "right". Which successful published authors had (non-writing) blogs that were interesting enough to make people read it on a regular basis?

I first stopped by some of my favorite authors' sites. Almost across the board, the blog posts are pretty much all about upcoming releases, cover reveals, news about conferences and signings, etc. All helpful information but not something you'd like sign up to read weekly.

But I couldn't really find any stand out blogs from the authors I went to. I could think of a few authors with debuts coming out that had good blogs. I think Tawna Fenske does an excellent job having broad appeal on her blog. Her theme is humor with a heavy dose of sexual innuendo (she does talk about writing some). She's funny and entertaining and the blog gives you a feel for what her writing voice is. It makes you want to read her book. I also think Stephanie Faris does a good job covering very broad appeal topics like Do You Remember New Coke? Though she writes middle grade so her blogging is not necessarily tied to her genre.

I also love Chuck Wendig's blog. He does blog about writing regularly but it's not a "writing" blog. And he's hilarious. Totally subscribe-able. But other than that, where are the multi-published authors who have killer blogs? I gave up and asked the hive mind of Twitter. Here are the suggestions:

Neil Gaiman

Jennifer Crusie

Ebony McKenna

Patrick Rothfuss

Meg Cabot

But really, people had trouble coming up names. Now, this is a limited sample because most of the people who follow me on Twitter are fellow writers. So, like me, they tend to hang out at blogs about writing. But still.

This made me wonder is the successful, engaging author blog that rare? Do readers really care to see more than news style updates once an author is published? Are we all stressing ourselves out over something that nobody else is doing well either?

I don't know the answers to those questions. My instinct is that a non-writing reader would probably be more interested in following a favorite author on Twitter and Facebook to just get to know them organically and in bite sized morsels rather than regularly reading their blog. But that's just conjecture. And if you throw the whole self-pubbing thing into the mix, then you have even more complicated questions because then your online platform is your ONLY way to get to readers. The whole topic fascinates me.

So I'm dying to know what you all think? Which author blogs (non-writing blogs) do you love to read? What are those authors doing right? As a reader, what do you want your favorite authors to blog about?