I’m pretty new to this blogging game and some *okay, a lot* of the sites and thingymebobs everyone talks about make this terrific whooshing sound as they fly right over my head.
To this end, I recently posted on my blog about my complete suckiness at all things to do with the internet and social networking and put out an SOS asking a gazillion stupid questions about what things were, what they were supposed to do and what would they actually do for me.
One of the issues coming out of this was a few authors felt that participating in communities as well as having their own sites was eating up their precious writing time. My automatic response to this was “Well, what the hell are you thinking? Tell ’em to bugger off and go and write already!” Later, though, I started to think more deeply about the online presence authors must feel the need to maintain. I say must deliberately because there is a definite expectation from readers, myself included, authors will have a website or blog or whatever and, in addition to this, they will interact in some way, shape or form with their fans.
Realistically this means in terms of self-promotion and marketing, especially in the epublishing industry, it’s pretty much a given that an author needs to be active online *but NOT an active wanker cos that’s another topic in itself*. By the same token, there is obviously a fine balance between RL, writing and the ‘author persona’.
It’s in relation to this balance that I’m hoping for feedback which may assist authors – no matter at what stage of their careers they may be – in deciding what internet tools will work the best for them.
So, setting aside the squeeing that results whenever an author and a reader connect online, here are some questions to (hopefully) help stimulate your little grey cells:
Readers , do you visit authors’ sites? If so, which ones? Do you prefer websites, blogs, LJ, Facebook, Twitter, whatever? How often do you like to see updates and what do you want in terms of content? Do you read joint author or publishers’ sites? What actually helps – or doesn’t – to promote an author to you?
Authors, what internet tools have actually worked for you? What are the pros and cons associated with these? As important as they are to promote and support the m/m romance genre, how difficult is it to commit time to communities like GLBT Bookshelf or publishers’ blogs for example as well as maintain your own sites? Also, how do you really feel about guest blogging or doing interviews?
I guess the nuts and bolts *nudge, nudge* of what I’m getting at is – what’s the stuff that actually works and what’s the crap that’s just a complete waste of time from both a reader’s and writer’s perspective/s?
From my own POV, although I absolutely ADORE having Sean Kennedy or K Z Snow or Clare London or L B Gregg *such a name dropper ;)* come visit me at my blog and my stalkage of them in return, I’d much prefer them to hurry up and write their next books already. *g*
What do you mean RL?? Forget that! Write! *crack whip* Write!
Great post Kris.
I feel that an author cannot underestimate the value of keeping up a blog. Even if they only post once a week, I personally think this is a very effective way of keeping their voice out there in the Internet. I want to see posts on what they are writing and any triumphs/problems associated with a WIP. I’m not so bothered about the minutae of their daily lives – although some authors do write very wittily on things that have happened to them in RL.
When I discover a new author the first thing I do is look for their blog. If it hasn’t been updated in weeks then I feel disappointed. If they maintain it regularly then I add them to my blog roll.
This means I have a number of author blogs on my blog roll now and I like keeping up with what they are doing in their writing. I also like leaving comments, get a thrill when they are answered, and generally interacting with the face behind the book. I am more likely to add an author to my autobuy list if they maintain a blog and interact with me.
I do use Twitter and have interacted with authors that way. I like the informalness of Twitter and that you can exchange a few words with an author about any topic under the sun.
As for the rest, well I haven’t really got into other sites – although I do have a Facebook page. As a blogger I don’t have much time for anything else so I often wonder how authors get any time to write as well as all the Internet publicity and RL stuff.
Jen, see my reply down below. I totally forgot I respond directly this way.
I do feel sorry for the authors to have to do so many things and still write.
Especially e-pub writers. It feels to me that they are standing a lot closer to their reader audience then paper/NY publised authors.
I agree. To me, it would feel like trying to juggle too many hats, especially, as you say, when there is so much pressure to interact with your readers as an eauthor.
As a reader, I’m interested to see how authors respond to this.
I’m like Jenre – when I find a new author, I can’t wait to see if they have a blog or website, and I’m over the moon if they have an LJ, because that’s where I hang out.
I’ve read some of the wittiest and most interesting journal entries ever, by Timothy J Lambert and Becky Cochrane, after reading their book and discovering their journals. They post fairly regularly, and interact if I comment. I’m really amazed and happy about that.
I’ve found journals of other authors as well, and appreciate reading their entries too. A once a week up-date’s nice, any more is a bonus. I’m happy to read about things in their RL. I know all about Tim’s dog Rex, and Becky’s Barbies now.
I don’t have a Twitter a/c, rarely if ever visit Facebook or MySpace, and don’t follow many blogs, so it’s all LJ for me.
If I’ve enjoyed a book, and find an e-mail address for the author, I’ll send feedback straight away. It’s always lovely to get a response. I worry that it makes me feel entitled somehow, but I think I’d be slightly disappointed if I didn’t get even a generic “Thank you for writing” reply.
I don’t visit publishers’ sites, unless it’s linked from an author’s website or blog. What helps me most is recs from other readers/reviewers or new book news from authors themselves (Jordan Castillo Price has a newsletter, which is helpful).
Gaycrow: I think I’m a bit more lazier than you and Jen. I tend to only follow up on author’s sites if I absolutely adored the book or something about it or the author’s bio intrigued me enough to take a gander.
Your point about interaction with an author on their blog/LJ/whatever is really important I think. It might just be a smilely face or a ‘thanks’ but it can make all the difference in giving readers – both commentors and lurkers – a good impression about the author.
I’m always hesitant about an author making a recommendation for a book, especially in this small m/m romance world. When I was just starting to read this genre I was burnt a few times and later found out that the authors were friends. 🙁
I visit the e-pub websites to check for new arrivals and also to buy directly from them. I seldom buy through re-sellers.
The only publishers sites I check out are ones like Loose Id or Liquid Silver, which have a delay in releasing their new books to ARe etc. I don’t check out publishers blogs at all.
Kris
I think our (readers’) expectations of authors in terms of keeping up with every social networking vehicle is part of the problem. I did a post in April Social Networking – is it Working for You? and a number of authors responded and expressed the view that they are having a tough enough time with RL, and when you add social networking it becomes overwhelming. Here’s the link
http://tinyurl.com/lungq9
On the flip side , I see these same authors on Twitter talking about the minutiae of their daily lives – what they had for breakfast, what the kids are doing etc. etc. how often their cat coughed up a fur ball, etc. and I wonder, why aren’t they writing? You cannot imagine what’s on Twitter in terms of people’s personal lives and personal information. Why do they (not just authors) do this?
I don’t use Facebook but from time I will look up an author there. I’m only interested in their WIP to see how much longer it will be before their next book is subbed to their publishers. I’m not interested in every little detail about their daily lives (I’m sure they’re not interested in mine either). Authors are like everyone else – they have a life, family obligations, and a career that happens to be writing. At some point they have to prioritize and something has to give unless they are awake 24/7, and even then it’s tough to meet everyone’s expectations.
Livejournal is best for me and even then I don’t post regularly. I still haven’t filled in my page on the new GBLT Bookshelf. I think an author should have at least a website and maybe one other vehicle, but if they subscribe to 10 of these networks, of course they won’t have time for writing because all they will be doing is updating their pages on these networks.
What works for me is an author’s website, joint publisher/author sites, Livejournal, and sometimes Facebook. However just one or two would work, especially the author’s website.
Sorry for the rant.:)
Wave, I’m not a Twitter person and never will be. It just doesn’t appeal at all.
I don’t have a problem with authors doing this if they want to, but what I don’t get is how some authors can then turn around and complain about it when they knew it was more of a social than a promo tool in the first place. *shrugs* Maybe that’s me though.
Wave: In terms of Twitter, I think some authors have it on whilst working and pop in and out of it as they have a break. Even authors can’t work solidly for hours on end without a break!
And you are right, alot of twits are about mundane stuff but I don’t mind that too much. I don’t think I can complain when my tweets are just as bad ;).
Jen
I don’t expect anyone to work without a break. We’re all human beings and we have to have different outlets. However, I do still feel that about 75 – 80% of the tweets are about mundane personal things. Maybe I’m too focused in my use of Twitter and probably this is its purpose. IDK. But I still feel that there’s a middle ground, especially if the authors are complaining about not having enough time in the day to write. Twitter is a huge time suck!
I don’t interact much on social networking sites. I used to be very heavily into LJ, but now I just sorta lurk around.
So for communicating with authors…not so much. I pretty much just need a webpage of some sort to tell me what books they have out and what new is coming up. And that’s about it. Oh, and do look for rec pages, but I don’t see that very often.
I follow a few authors on LJ but again I don’t communicate. If I didn’t like a book, I don’t want to tell them, so I keep quiet. But they do have interesting discussions, like these, and I like to read what everyone says, even if I don’t pipe up.
One thing I do like is when an author I am following does rec another author. If I know I like them, then who they rec will probably be someone I’ll like.
Hi Sharvie
I’m with you about an author basically having a one-stop-shop. Once I’ve found an author and discovered I that I like both their work as well as their online persona I tend to pick a spot where I can find ’em most frequently. I don’t comment very often, but I’m damned good at lurking. 🙂
Well, I don’t follow a lot of authors on-line. I have a lot of regular friends (not that authors aren’t regular but you know what I mean) whose blogs keep me busy and I don’t have time for tons more, but I have a couple I follow and comment on from time to time. It never occurs to me to look someone up after I’ve read their book. Hmmm. So for me personally if an author has a website/blog/livejournal etc. it really doesn’t affect me one way or the other. It’s fine if they do and from time to time when I’m bored I will hit a blog roll like Jen’s and flick around but its a one-off random thing.
I don’t Tweet, I just know it can be a giant time suck following so many people, I see what it’s done to my daughter. LOL I do have a Livejournal account because I wanted to do something once and you had to be signed up so I did but that was a couple of months ago, can’t say I’ve been back since. I mostly use Facebook and its connected to three groups, family/bloggie friends/board friends. So if I befriend an author they will read about my new acquisition of Ikea bookshelves, the crappy weather, what’s happening on the job front, you know “stuff”. I haven’t befriended a lot of authors because … I figure they don’t want to know about my “stuff”. LOL
I’m one of those people who don’t e-mail authors or comment much (although maybe KZ is getting sick of me commenting now) because I have that authors up there – me down here thing going on, so I don’t really seek out opportunities to interact personally with authors but when it happens I do an internal squee of delight. 🙂
So on the whole for me if they have websites, Twitter, LJ or Facebook I don’t really care. Its a nice bonus sometimes but it won’t really affect my buying choices. I find getting to know an author through blogs like this one or Kris’ works for me just as well when they comment on theads.
So you come visit me just to meet authors, Tam?? Geez, egokiller much. LOL.
Like you, I’m someone who doesn’t mind what the vehicle is, be it a website, WordPress, blog, LJ, etc. I don’t do Facebook so I’m not sure how that works, but re: everything else I found it – internet idiot that I am – pretty easy to set up a profile for those times when I do want to delurk and annoy an author.
Wave: You are right, most of the twits are about every day stuff.
I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way of using Twitter. Some people use it like you just to post up when they’ve done a blog post or to advertise the release of a new book or when someone has written a good review of their book. Some people just use it for informal chats or mundane stuff.
It is a huge time-suck though!
I know that for me, Twitter has become really easy and a ‘go to’ device at the moment. Especially if you have an app like Tweetdeck, which shows you messages as they pop up and you can respond using only a couple of seconds. It’s a great break between trying to compose paragraphs.
However, a blog post requires thought. It requires more concentrated writing time. You feel like you have to put much more into it, or else you’re cheating people.
It’s odd, because despite the short length of the messages you compose on Twitter, I feel ‘closer’ to readers through it because you end up being more personal with them.
I guess because it feels friendlier and more informal, you can slip into it more easily.
Certainly makes sense to me, Sean. In terms of promo though I *pointed stare* wouldn’t think it wise though to ignore/avoid/whatever updates to your blog. A number of readers have indicated here that they often check out an author’s site to find out more about them and if that person hasn’t updated their site in a while I imagine that it would be extremely off-putting.
Hi Sean
I have a Tweetdeck and whenever I open it I’m totally overwhelmed by the number of messages and quickly close it.:)
Everyone has to choose what works for them in terms of a communication device, whether it’s with friends or customers. Decades ago it was memos and letters (probably before you were born Sean)*g* now it’s email, Twitter , Lj or something else.
Hey! He’s only a year younger than I am and I remember those days.
La KZ is supposed to hurry up and write her next book when she gets threatening emails from Kris of the Psychotic Psynners blog about appearing here today?
I just gave her more pills. Now go away. Lopez already has his airline ticket to Perth, and, believe me, he is prepared to use it after he rescues Clare London from that hotel lobby and dispatches her sneering fancyman in the big white hat.
Yours truly,
Castanet Feldman
Castanet, are you drinking before lunch again?
It really depends. I love author’s blogs- provided they actually write about their writing! I’m not so interested in hearing about their weight loss routine or their sex life… *no, no, no on that last one!*
And I HATE it when authors disappear- Joely Skye and Jane Seville, where have you gone??
Yahoo groups can be quite good as well, especially if they’re well managed and stick to the topic at hand. Jordan Castillo Price’s is a good example of this- there are a sufficient number of posts each week for a good conversation, but not many your email inbox gets overloaded. I find JL Langley’s group somewhat frustrating in this regard- it’s generally just a huge party, and it’s only very rarely that her books at mentioned at all! When I first joined the group, I tried to start a conversation about some of the characters- about 3 people responded (including the author herself, lol) out of a group with over 300 people, and then the party carried on, my post completely forgotten. I tried again a few days later with a different character and was similarly brushed aside. Now personally, if I’m joining an AUTHOR’s yahoo group, I want to hear from/about the AUTHOR and their books/characters. This is one of those cases where I think I’m much better off getting information from a blog, or even a publisher’s website…
God save me from insights into sex lives! Way TMI.
Interesting that you say that about yahoo groups, Davina, because I only belong to one and that’s been recently set up specifically as a book club where we all read the same book and then discuss different aspects about it. If you are looking for something more serious let me know and I’ll see if I can hook you up with the secret password. 😉
Davina, what you said is very interesting.
The primary reason I’m averse to Yahoo groups is the overabundance of socializing and silliness. I like having fun, but I just can’t spend my time cyber-waving and LOL’ing day in and day out. You’re one of the few readers I’ve come upon who actually wants to talk books. What a treat!
Mostly, I’ve heard readers complain that they get sick of authors doing nothing on their blogs and chat loops and Twitter but pimp their work.
I strive for a happy medium and hope I’m doing the right thing.
Yours is one of the few author’s sites I visit – if that isn’t already obvious – and I like the mix of topics and promo that I find there as well as things like how often you do up dates, how to contact you and find your books, etc, etc. Keep doing what you’re doing, K Z!
I like this site, Fiction With Friction, Slash and Burn, Nose In A Book, The Naughty Bits, interviews and author sites the best. If I read a new author the first thing I do is look for their website. If there is no independent author site, how do I know what *other* places they publish? A random thought of the day is interesting and I *do* want to know when the next book is out, what progress is being made on a book I’m waiting for and what the author personally likes to read or their favorite sites. I’m likely to buy something from another author and visit the other sites to see if there is something that I’m interested in. I get really frustrated with a site if they only post reviews of a book but no blurb or buy link. A link makes it easier to buy their work, an excerpt makes me more likely to buy the book; teaser freebies make me squee and can get me into a new series or book that I wasn’t considering. If I read a page or two and I like what I read and the story sucks me in, I go buy the book. I don’t need a daily update. Weekly and random posts or newsletters are fantastic. (I have the JCP newsletter and love it) If you *do* have an author site, PLEASE UPDATE when something comes out or is due to come out! If I’m really on edge for a new book I’ll check the author site frequently and check out the bookshelf and the WIP page. I usually pre-select or auto-buy and almost *always* purchase on the day of publication. I almost always buy direct from the publisher.
I tried LJ and Facebook a couple of times but nobody friended me (sad face) so I couldn’t see a lot of the content if any and decided not to pursue it further. I don’t twitter and I don’t write fan letters in appreciation of a book because I feel like I don’t want to suck up a bunch of the author’s time or be stalker-ish. Stalkers are creepy and if I suck up a bunch of their time reading my letter and possibly writing back, how will they have time to make dinner, do laundry, work at the EDJ and write the book that I breathlessly wait for? On the other hand, I *do* respond to the posts in those sites that I do visit and have a *huge squee* when an author responds to what I said. I try not to gush on them (though sometimes I do) because I don’t want to go back to the stalker behavior or make the author uncomfortable. Personal stuff and opinions are interesting and I’m fascinated by how the author’s mind works and their views on social issues. (I’m thinking of a couple of threads from The Naughty Bits and multi-author sites) Those feel more casual and connected. Mostly it’s about the books though. I might be interested in XYZ but if I don’t get it, I’m not going to pout as I too have an EDJ too. I’m really all about the books and the characters with a side of social issues relating to the books I read and the GLBT community with a splash of personal stuff.
Mostly I just talk and write too much so… My name is Amie, I’m excessively verbose and a bookaholic. (They tried to make me go to rehab, I said no no no!)
Amie, that’s some seriously terrific feedback. Thanks for your verbosity! 😉
I have very similar views to you with regard to what types of things should be included on a site (such as lists, buy links, etc) and in particular about the site’s content. When you said “I’m really all about the books and the characters with a side of social issues relating to the books I read and the GLBT community with a splash of personal stuff”, my immediate reaction was that’s it exactly. I also prefer content that is heavy on the writing end with a large dash of associated topics and a pinch of RL.
This is a timely topic for me- as an author! I just contracted for my very first book; it will go into edits next month. And that’s all I know b/c I am so new at this. Lately I’ve been mulling over the idea of self-promo. Have been doing a lot of hopping around the webz – forums, groups, blogs, websites, etc. These have been my questions and first tentative answers:
– Should I blog or have a website or both?
Seems kind of silly to have a site with only one published book, yeah? Plus I’ve come to realize that I frequent authors’ blogs more than their websites. I like reading what they have to say about things other than their books, altho’ I like that, too. I like blogs with personality and humor, such as KZ Snow’s and LB Gregg’s, among others. I want to be them when I grow up. Or maybe Kris or Jenre, I can’t decide. But I’m nervous – what if I throw a blog and nobody comes?
– If I blog, should I use blogger or LJ or wordpress or something other?
I can read all these, but have no concept of how easy/difficult they are to use or how others perceive them.
– Use a social site?
I just can’t imagine the time-suck facebook or myspace or twitter would be. I am the kind of person that enters the internet like a traveler in a labyrinth. I find all sorts of ways to veer off my path, looking at new and interesting things, exploring the different tines of the forks in the road. Heavens, I might get lost in facebook for days!
– As a writer new to the market, how do I best get people to know me, know my book (besides writing a good one, that is)?
Cloning seems to be the logical answer at this point.
I’ve been a reader for a long time now, and still just discovered Google Reader. Love it. I have a zillion (Okay, maybe not that many) sites and blogs I like to visit, but they are not all updated daily. It eats a lot of time to check them out. The Google Reader shows me the new posts and if I want to go to the actual blog, to see the comments, say, it’s a click away.
I know this is a long comment. Sorry *sheepish grin*. I could go on and on…hmm. Maybe I’ll use this on my blog sometime…
Wren
Hey, thank you, Wren. Nice to know I have some lurkers! 😉
I also find blogs, at least the regularly updated ones, much more personable than websites, which are kind of like static billboards. I truly love the interaction.
Awww shucks, Wren. You want to be me?? *writes this day down for posterity not to mention proof* LOL.
Okay, I’m going to attempt to answer your questions. Disclaimer: Don’t kill me though if you do it and it doesn’t work.
1. I would start with a blog first IMO. I think that will be much easier for you to establish and maintain initially. I’ve also seen – through some sort of technical magic – websites that have blogs so it might be that you can do a website later and attached your blog to it… hopefully.
2. Thanks to Wave I’ve now got some experience with all 3. Although I’m not sure about the details of setting up a wordpress site, LJ and blogger were both extremely easy to use (sayeth the self-confessed internet idiot). I say go for either of these options.
3. Re: use a social site – I can’t help you there cos I avoid ’em like the plague.
4. Writing a good book is definitely gonna be your best promo. Why not make sure it gets out to popular review sites like Wave’s or Jen’s, but at the same time make sure your blog or whatever is up and running as a lot of readers have already mentioned checking out new author’s sites once they’ve finished reading a book. You might also want to mention any other work that you have underway so these peeps know what’s coming up.
My 2c anyway. 🙂
Kris – Thanks for your responses! You are so nice, no matter what KZ says *tee hee*
I had similar thoughts regarding blog first, website second. I have noticed a lot of authors have them linked. Whichever engine (?) I use, I figure now is the time to get it organized and running. I know what you mean about investigating new authors. I do it every time I read someone new, either while I’m in the midst of the book or as soon as I finish. And I am always bummed when there’s no online presence.
And what is this “mirroring” of which you speak?
Wren
K Z loves me. It’s just her version of pulling my piggy tails. 😉
Mirroring is when you do one post and then upload it to different vehicles/internet tools. For eg, Jen posts the reviews she does for Wave on this site as well as her own blog and I upload the few reviews I’ve done for Wave over at my LJ account so they are all in the one place and link to this from my blog. Does that make sense?
Hey Wren
All bloggers have been through the ‘what if no-one reads my blog stage?’. If you put yourself about a bit on other blogs you’ll get curious lurkers who may even start commenting after a while. Plus when your book comes out there will be a lot of people checking you out to find out who this new author is. If you are maintaining a good blog, those people will stay with you.
Good luck!
I have a website, an LJ, a blog, facebook, a yahoo group, MySpace and Twitter.
My website is all work and no play.
My LJ is my everyday space. It might be BPAL reviews or book lists or religion or kid-stuff.
I tend to forget my blog. 4 people follow it.
Facebook gets more updates than it used to.
My yahoo group is very neglected. I can’t seem to get any discussions going.
MySpace…I just post releases there. I hate the interface.
Twitter is fast random stuff, not my big networking thing.
As for what works, I have no idea. I use what I find easy.
Holy crap, Angelia. I’m exhausted just reading through your list. Do you mind me asking how much time you think you spend on each of these things?
K.Z. – I am a lurker! Trying to come out from behind the wall, though 🙂
Angelia – Gosh, you have quite a list! I’m too completionistic to handle so much, at least at this point!
Wren
I confess to not being a “joiner”.
Wow. There’s some really great feedback here and now that I’m awake I’m going to try and get back to you all… except for Senora Feldman cos she’s just a mean old lady who for some unknown reason has it in for me. 🙁
Jen: I’m with you about an author not underestimating the value of keeping their blog up to date. While my main interest is in their work, I also don’t mind hearing about their daily lives, but I do get really frustrated when an author doesn’t post regularly – even if it’s only once a week that would be something.
One of the things that I admit does makes me cross is when I see that an author hasn’t responded to comments. A generic ‘thank you all’ would be better than nothing.
I’m so happy to see a few readers here enjoy my newsletter. It was a huge time commitment to set up. The initial newsletter took about 40 hours. Now it takes 1-2 days/mo. Still, the newsletter is critical. I try to make sure it’s not only a list of BUY MY STUFF, DAMMIT! but a bunch of interesting articles or anecdotes.
It’s also cool to see praise for my Yahoo group. I try not to bombard or send silly jokes because I hate that stuff myself. I’m too busy, and when items like that appear in my inbox, I delete them.
I’ve become disillusioned with promo-only Yahoo groups. Maybe some readers lurk there for excerpts, but I know that the digests from those groups usually get trashed by my with hardly a glance. Again, it’s a whole bunch of “Buy me! Buy me!” without anything to really pique my interest.
I do my best to let all my readers know what’s going on. Like if I post an article to my LJ, mirror post it to MySpace (typically I have different readers on each) and then a quick tweet and note to my Yahoo group so they can come check it out it they want to.
Hi Jordan, from the feedback here it is obvious that readers really love what you are doing and the effort you put in to make everything interesting. 🙂 I imagine that there will be a number of people checking your site/s out to see exactly what it is you do. LOL.
I just want to pick up on something you mentioned which I think is really useful advice to authors and that is about mirror posting. I’ve noticed this is something that a few authors do and I think it is an extremely sensible way of updating different sites and also catering to the preferences of readers; for eg, those who prefer LJ and those blogger. I’m so glad you mentioned it.
I’m loving this topic, Kris, thanks for blogging about it. It’s so cool to hear what does and doesn’t work for everyone.
With mirror posting, I think it’s important to tailor the post a bit so you don’t seem like a spammer sending the same message to eight million places. Like put the full post on your blog (or your LJ), a mirror of the full post somewhere else where the audience doesn’t have a lot of overlap (Facebook, maybe?) and then a short invite to a few more key places, along the lines of, “What do you think about social networking?” or whatever you’re blogging about.
(In fact I followed one of Wave’s tweets to the blog today and then realized I hadn’t been here in a few days and poked around some.)
I have to admit it’s a turnoff for me when authors send a promo email out to every single erotic romance group every single time they make a blog post, because so few people belong to just one of those groups and it becomes a bombardment.
I’m glad you are enjoying the discussion, Jordan. I think these types of topics can be really useful – especially for something like an author’s online persona and/or promo – in terms of getting feedback from a lot of different perspectives.
Excellent point about cross postings etc. There is nothing worse, IMO, than getting a gazillion email updates about the same thing. It makes an author – or anyone else for that matter – look desperate. Definitely NOT a good way to promote oneself to readers.
I visit very few authors’ web sites with any regularity. I look mainly for what is going to be published and where. For a new-to-me author, I want to see a back list and, hopefully, where to buy it. If I learn a little about the person, fine. If not, that’s fine, too. One major exception is TA Chase – I absolutely love him and read his blog daily. This is the only other book related place I visit daily.
I don’t and won’t do Twitter, MySpace, Facebook – I just don’t get all the social stuff, I guess – I can’t chatter on about nothing and I’m too much a private person to spill out my life for everyone to read…
I don’t get that social stuff either, Celeste. My argument is why do I need to friend or follow you there when I can just send you an email and ask you what you’re eating. It just seems so weird.
Kris
You’ve never sent me an email asking what I’m eating. Should I be offended?
Silly. That’s cos I already know that you’re either eating chip butties or roasts with Yorshire puds.
Fab post, Kris, with some very interesting comments.
As an author, I use my website as my main promo thing. I used to participate in some GBLT promo Yahoo groups, but as Jordan mentioned, I do wonder how effective those groups are at reaching readers. Authors are readers, too, of course, still, I question the effectivity of yahoo promo groups. Not reader groups, but promo groups. I don’t have a blog or a twitter account, and I’m not on Facebook or MySpace, on purpose. I just know all of those would be a huge time suck, so instead I’ll occasionally mooch off an author friend’s blog and do a guest post. I frequent a few author and friend blogs and a couple GBLT blogs/sites like Wave’s, but that’s about it when it comes to that. I like Goodreads and check in there daily. I’ve found quite a few great books from recommendations from friends on that site.
The real issue is time. I’ve got a day job, so balancing internet stuff and writing becomes a challenge. I keep going back and forth on whether I should start a blog and limit it to a weekly post. But I’m about as interesting as watching paint dry, so even if I could find the time for it, the issue would be what to write about. Boring blog or no blog at all? I’ve been sticking to no blog for the time being. 😉
LOL @ boring blog, Ava. Me, I think I’m prob’ly the worst random blogger in the world. I’m sure peeps just lurk to see what the hell is with the crazy chick from Oz today. *g*
I’m fascinated by your very conscious approach of just having a website and that’s it. Pardon the nosiness, but does that mean you tend to get a lot of emails directly from fans/readers? Or are they still able to interact with you on the website?
As others have pointed out, the distinction between a promo and a readers yahoo group is an important one. I think I would be extremely disappointed if I joined a discussion or an author’s group to find out that it was just ‘see me, buy me’ stuff. This would be another thing that might end up putting off a reader as opposed to making a good impression.
Oh no, there’s no interacting on my website. It’s just a static site. I do keep it updated. A lot of fan mail? Um…no. I used to get more mail from readers asking about future books, possible sequels, and then I added a FAQ on my website and now I hardly get any mail. Maybe I should get rid of the FAQ… lol
I guess Goodreads is the main place where I interact with readers, but I don’t really see myself as an author there. I use the site more to catalog books I’ve read and talk books in general, than to talk about my own books.
“Maybe I should get rid of the FAQ… lol”
🙂 In all seriousness, though, this may be an option for those authors who do get a lot of enquiries about their WIPs and future plans. I imagine it would work in a similar way to having a back list on a site.
Thanks, Kris and Jordan, for the mirroring info. I’ll add it to my list of important-stuff-to-know-about-living-on-the-webz!
Welcome! 🙂