Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

How do you feel about authors promoting their books on message boards?

A place to debate issues or to rant about what's on your mind. In addition to discussions about historical fiction, books, the publishing industry, and history, discussions about current political, social, and religious issues and other topics are allowed, so those who are easily offended by certain topics may want to avoid such threads. Members are expected to keep the discussions friendly and polite and to avoid personal attacks on other members. The moderators reserve the right to shut down a thread without warning if they believe it necessary.
User avatar
cw gortner
Bibliophile
Posts: 1288
Joined: September 2008
Location: San Francisco,CA
Contact:

Post by cw gortner » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 3:11 am

[quote=""Ash""]Why do these authors assume that I am going to give a positive review?[/quote]

That's happened to me, too. I now get regular requests via my website from people who've written books that have nothing to do with historical fiction - one person in particular had a serial killer thriller they wanted me to review!

I keep saying I don't accept books for review on a random basis: I write reviews for books I bid on for the Historical Novel Reviews from the Historical Novel Society and on books I read on my own for pleasure.

The joys and travails of having a readily accessible author e-mail!
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN


www.cwgortner.com

User avatar
boswellbaxter
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3066
Joined: August 2008
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Post by boswellbaxter » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 3:31 am

[quote=""cw gortner""]That's happened to me, too. I now get regular requests via my website from people who've written books that have nothing to do with historical fiction - one person in particular had a serial killer thriller they wanted me to review!

I keep saying I don't accept books for review on a random basis: I write reviews for books I bid on for the Historical Novel Reviews from the Historical Novel Society and on books I read on my own for pleasure.

The joys and travails of having a readily accessible author e-mail![/quote]

I had someone send me a nasty note one day for not sending his book out for review. I wrote back (quite nicely) informing my correspondent that I (a) do not send books out for review, (b) had never agreed to review his book, and (c) had never received a book from him in the first place. I refrained from adding that (d) that I had now lost any interest I might have had in reading his book. Not surprisingly, I never heard back from him.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

User avatar
michellemoran
Bibliophile
Posts: 1186
Joined: August 2008
Contact:

Post by michellemoran » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 3:50 am

I had someone send me a nasty note one day for not sending his book out for review.
Oh my gosh!!! What the heck? Maybe he meant to email his publicist!
Visit MichelleMoran.com
Check out Michelle's blog History Buff at michellemoran.blogspot.com

User avatar
boswellbaxter
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3066
Joined: August 2008
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Post by boswellbaxter » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 4:35 am

He seemed to think I had a team of reviewers to which I sent out things. I suspect he was confusing me with someone else, as I told him he might be, but as he didn't have the courtesy to respond, I'll never know.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

Ash
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2475
Joined: August 2008
Location: Arizona, USA

Post by Ash » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 1:50 pm

An old highschool classmate contacted me a year or so back, saying she was in town and decided to look me up - did I want to do lunch? Oh sure, hadn't seen her in years (we weren't all that close but we were both in drama together)

So we meet for lunch and the first thing she tells me is that she has become a writer, that she has written a childrens book and she knows Im a teacher. Would I be interested in reading it? Oh I dunno, I said, perhaps. We started talking more, and it was one of those conversations where it was all her all the time. When it was time to go she handed me the book as a present, and hoped I'd review it for her. I shrugged, said I couldn't promise, but thanks for the book

I took a glance at it, and oh my. Horribly written, like she was writing for a 3 year old. I gave it to the school librarian to do with what she wanted. Never reviewed it, never heard from her again. And I hope I don't

User avatar
Volgadon
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 654
Joined: September 2008
Location: Israel
Contact:

Post by Volgadon » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 4:59 pm

Just what we were talking about. Check out comment #2.
http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2008/ ... /#comments

Erika Mailman
Scribbler
Posts: 29
Joined: October 2008
Location: California
Contact:

Post by Erika Mailman » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 6:33 pm

It's definitely a delicate balance between getting word out for one's book and coming off as greedy or crass. I like what CW Gortner said, that he tries to think about how HE finds books to read. For me, a lot of the time I have to confess it's browsing and being drawn in by a book cover. And of course we can't drag potential readers to the bookstore with us and point to our (hopefully eyecatching) book jacket!

This is probably a problem for booksellers too, the ones who care enough to handsell. I knew a bookseller who would walk right up to me, put a book in my hand (it's hard not to buy something once it's in your palm somehow) and say, "You need to buy this!" She was so charming she managed to pull it off, and 9 times out of 10 I would indeed buy the book.

User avatar
michellemoran
Bibliophile
Posts: 1186
Joined: August 2008
Contact:

Post by michellemoran » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 6:38 pm

Erika!!! So nice to see you here :] I agree. And hand-selling really is a dying art form, isn't it? I like being pointed in the direction of good books, but it rarely happens.
Visit MichelleMoran.com
Check out Michelle's blog History Buff at michellemoran.blogspot.com

User avatar
Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 7:22 pm

I like what CW Gortner said, that he tries to think about how HE finds books to read. For me, a lot of the time I have to confess it's browsing and being drawn in by a book cover. And of course we can't drag potential readers to the bookstore with us and point to our (hopefully eyecatching) book jacket!
Interesting about finding books to read. I don't do well at the bookstore and usually those end up being impulse purchases I regret.

My main sources (outside of boards like this and goodreads) are through,
  1. Amazon Listmanias
  2. Amazon recommended for me (BTW Amazon UK does much better sometimes than US)
  3. Having Amazon friends who read similar genres -- I like to see what they are reading
These really work. If I hadn't posted a review of The Far Pavilions on Amazon UK and then gone perusing a related Listmania over there I would not have found Trade Wind, Shadow of the Moon, Zemindar, Oliva and Jai (and two other books by Ryman).

I have seen authors do Listmanias and some do it in a well thought out manner, not just by promoting their own book (see our own Boswell Baxter) and then there's one or two that only do them just for shameless self promotion.

User avatar
cw gortner
Bibliophile
Posts: 1288
Joined: September 2008
Location: San Francisco,CA
Contact:

Post by cw gortner » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 8:57 pm

I like the lists on amazon too. They help a lot when I'm browsing online. But like Erika (so nice to meet you! I've heard great things about The Witch's Trinity), I also do a good amount of store browsing. Since there are always books I've heard about that I'm interested in, I often find them and look at them, read the jackets, etc. I love stores. I love the feel of books around me.
I can spend hours browsing. My partner laughs whenever I say, "I think I'll just pop into that bookstore for a moment." ;)
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN


www.cwgortner.com

Post Reply

Return to “Debate/Rant Forum”