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

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 3:37 am

Hah! I've gotten emails that are frighteningly similar to that.

It helps if you start it with "Dear XX" and then forget to replace XX with the addressee's name.

michellemoran · Post by **michellemoran** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 4:20 am

I couldn't help but wonder if the publicist was being overprotective because I was merely a blogger rather than something, well, more respectable than that

I've had that happen to me, too! It's often because the publicist doesn't want that particular writer doing any more emailing than absolutely necessary. Some publicists are more hands-on than others, and some authors have two and three publicists in-house working for them. It probably doesn't even occur to those authors to contact bloggers directly, especially if they're debut authors who think that going through a publicist is the way it's done because they've never known anything else.

Erika Mailman · Post by **Erika Mailman** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 5:31 am

Michelle, great to see you here too! And C.W., great to "meet" you--I've heard fabulous things about your incredible journey to publication.

It's pretty amazing that the blogosphere evolved to help support authors by sites like this and review blogs... it kind of makes up for the fact that second-hand sales on Amazon make it easy for a reader to not "officially" buy your book and contribute towards your royalties. And yes, Michelle is right--handselling is a lovely art, but many booksellers don't have the time... or it's just easier to send people to the front tables where big books are, rather than the midlisters in the stacks.

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 5:41 am

[QUOTE=xiaotien;9258]"pretty good" -- linda p. my old college roommate.
"/QUOTE]

Love this!!

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 5:48 am

[QUOTE=Ariadne;9256]There've been a couple times I've been amused by the process - like when a publicist insists all the interview questions go through her, so she could screen them first, even though I've been in contact with the author directly in another context in the past. [QUOTE]

Now, that has never happened to me yet! It sounds so . . . Nora Roberts! (no offense to anyone here who likes Madame Roberts). I do think some publicists look down their noses at bloggers but guess what? They won't for too much longer. With every major newspaper in the US reducing or eliminating book review space, the blogsphere must be embraced. I personally like the fact that to some extent, reviewing is leveling out, with every-day readers posting their opinions, instead of Mishu-whatever-her-name-is at the NY Times. Historical fiction has always suffered from mainsteam review snobbery and there was a time when critics at newspapers could literally make or break an author with a review; now, with so many outlets available, it feels like a more democratic, if at times arbitrary, process.

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 5:56 am

[quote=""Erika Mailman""]Michelle, great to see you here too! And C.W., great to "meet" you--I've heard fabulous things about your incredible journey to publication.[/quote]

Likewise! I'm going to attend your Salon at BookExpo this weekend and then stop by during your signing to say hello. I haven't read your book yet, so it'll be a great chance to buy it and get it signed.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 11:13 am

Oh I dunno I think if I wrote my first novel and I had established authors asking me to come to the blog for an interview I'd be overly excited with myself. I was overly excitied when I got some authors to post on my blog.

Well whatever, to each their own. And maybe some people don't understand that you need a web presense now.

Erika Mailman · Post by **Erika Mailman** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 5:00 pm

Oh! You're at the Book Group Expo, too! And on a Historical Friction panel... love that title. I will be there and get your book as well!

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 6:25 pm

[quote=""michellemoran""]I've had that happen to me, too! It's often because the publicist doesn't want that particular writer doing any more emailing than absolutely necessary. Some publicists are more hands-on than others, and some authors have two and three publicists in-house working for them. It probably doesn't even occur to those authors to contact bloggers directly, especially if they're debut authors who think that going through a publicist is the way it's done because they've never known anything else.[/quote]

I'm happy for publicists to email me and/or make contact on authors' behalf, no problem there. I mainly thought it was funny because I've never been asked to conduct an email interview via a third party when I've done them for a print magazine, not even with Very Famous people. How I'm approached when I'm wearing my blogger hat can often differ quite a bit from what I'm used to from print (this is just one example). I expect things will even themselves out over time, as publishers and authors get more familiar with the variety of blogs out there, their authority/reliability, etc.

Ludmilla · Post by **Ludmilla** » Fri October 24th, 2008, 7:44 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]I really don't mind it when authors jump in on a forum and if their book suits what the thread is about and respectfully mentioning it -- really that's OK. But when they start spamming every thread out there it's starting to get just a little bit old, [/quote]

That pretty much sums up how I feel about the issue in general.

While not quite the same thing, I just noticed over at LibraryThing that an author has his own books in his library and has given them all 5 star ratings. Hmm... I say to myself. I'm not a writer, not even a writer wannabe, but if I were, I don't think I'd have the gumption to rate my own books and give them the highest rating possible. What do you think?

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

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