Promotion the Easy Way
This entry was posted on Monday, April 14. 2008 and is filed under Promotion,Posts by Rebecca Luella Miller.
For a number of writers, promoting our work is hard. It feels self-serving and actually contrary to what God has called us to be and to do.
But what I've noticed is this: I have no problem telling people about my friends' books ... or books I love ... or books I think my friends will love ... or books I think my friends might be interested in ... or ... you get the idea.
The point is, I find it far easier to "brag" about someone else's work.
Quite frankly, I think this is a good way to operate. Not only does it remove the temptation to shamelessly boast, but it has a practical side—it's more effective.
I've said before, if I want to promote my work by telling as many people as I can, and if I'm very aggressive, I might get the word out to several hundred people, maybe as many as a thousand, depending on how big my circle of acquaintences is.
But what if I have a group of friends willing to promote my [hypothetical] book along side me? What if they were willing to tell their closest friends, even encouraging them to buy and read my book and then turn around and tell their other close friends the same thing? How many more people would hear about my work?
This seems like a simple concept, a mathematical one actually, in which the number of people aware of my book grows geometrically. And yet ... it seems like not everyone agrees.
Not too long ago, on an email loop for science fiction and fantasy fans, one person requested book recommendations to add to a reading list. Person A mentioned four or five books to recommend. Person B added another similar number. Then person C, an author, chimed in, recommending one book—this person's own title.
To be fair, a day or so later, as the discussion continued, this author did recommend two other titles, both by this author's current publisher. Nothing wrong with that, but the appearance, I can't help but think, is tainted as self-serving.
Please understand, I see nothing wrong with recommending my work, if I think it fits what you're looking for. But if ALL I recommend is my work? Doesn't that reflect on me?
It could be I'm not aware of other books in the field. But shouldn't I know what other books are coming out in my genre?
It could be I don't think the other books I know of fit what you're looking for—again reflecting more on my high opinion of my work than on the books I'm failing to mention. (If I thought my work was the best out there, fine, but the only one?)
Please correct me if I'm wrong. Doesn't talking about each other's works instead of talking only about my own make good book-buzz sense? Isn't it more consistent with the way Christ set up the church?
OK, I introduced an elephant with that line. Just because a Christian writes something, must I support the work? Of course not. I am no more obligated to support a Christian than I am to support a book just because it managed to get in print. I still need to apply critical thinking to evaluate whether or not a work merits my backing. After all, my recommendation should stand for something. Otherwise, what I say will become no more meaningful than junk mail.
I mention this in light of the fact that some blog tours have or are beginning to charge for their services. Certainly, I have no problem with paid promotion. Obviously catalogues and fliers (junk mail) must sell some product, or businesses wouldn't persist in sending them out.
From what I've gleaned in the CBA, authors, editors, and publicists are looking more and more to the internet for promotion. And rightly so, I believe.
But in thinking about what's the most effective means of promotion, I come back to the concept oft repeated—word of mouth. One person telling another person about a book they love ... or books they think their friends will love ... or books they think their friends might be interested in ... or ...
That's the kind of promotion I can do happily.
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Sunday, May 04. 2008
Gene Curtis wrote:
Where does one draw the line? Authors are often required to promote their own works.
Word of mouth is actually the second best means of promoting books. Being on a popular bestseller list is the most effective means, but WOM is usually the way a book makes it to that list. Traditionally authors start WOM by doing a book signing tour promoting their latest release. How is a book signing tour where the author's mere presence is saying,'Buy my book,' significantly different from an author recommending his or her own book when asked to recommend books?
I don't think there is a clear place to draw the line, but I do agree with you in that I feel diminished by promoting my own work regardless of the means.
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