This month, I'm seeking, as opposed to offering, help

Tweet  I'm afraid this month, I'm in the position of seeking assistance instead of offering it. I just published my first book in May and find myself trying to figure out how to promote sales. Part of the problem is I don't really want to be a person who sells books; I want to be a writer who puts my book in front of people and their eyeballs in exchange for money. "Well, there's your problem, dummy", you're saying. "That's what selling books is! Suck it up and do it." Yeah, I know. But while you're right, you're also wrong. As Icy mentioned in the last entry, there is no shortage of writers on Twitter who do nothing but hawk their books. Regrettably I follow a bunch of them although I don't know why I ever did in the first place. It's like DVRing a tv channel that shows nothing but infomercials. Believe me, I've been correcting that mistake ever since. The point is, I consider those people to "just" be book sellers and I refuse to become one of them. For one obvious reason, it's obnoxious and boring. For another, I doubt it's very effective.
Luckily, I'm in a position where I don't have to move X number of units by such-and-such date or I'm out on the street. That reduces the stress significantly (although, I'm sure it also reduces my overall motivation). Still, I'd love to sell lots of books and get more and more people to read the book, so I'm here looking for tips and tricks just like you. Here's a list what I've done so far, what I think the results have yielded and what I need to do better.

• I had a book release party - This was a lot of fun. I invited friends and close associates because it was largely a "thank you" to people who have supported me in various capacities over the years and with whom I wanted to celebrate the success of completing the task of getting something published. I sold enough books at the event to break even on the cost of the party (actually, a little bit ahead). I think everyone enjoyed themselves but I'm not sure how many, if anyone, have word-of-mouthed the book to friends of theirs who weren't there.
• I've made it available via multiple sources - Amazon, CreateSpace, an e-store at my web site. Of course, the task is driving traffic to those sources. My blog readers are certainly aware it exists.
• I've solicited Amazon.com reviews from readers - Good news: every one has rated the book FIVE STARS! Bad news: There are only two of them. I need to get aggressive about soliciting more reviews, I think.
• I've done a couple of local radio shows - I don't like to brag but I'm pretty good at holding my own during interviews so I think the ones I've done have gone pretty well. I need, and want, to do more. 

That's all, really. I know I need to do things like approach the local media and knock on the doors of my local independent booksellers, and I will do those things. I'm wide open to suggestions for stuff I haven't thought of or non-traditional tactics though.

- Clark Brooks

The Connection Between Bloggers and Their Fans

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by Kelly DeBie

Over the past month, all the contributors here at Peevish Penman have written about book reviews from every angle imaginable. They’ve discussed the accuracy of them, whether they are credible and whether they are something that writers should be concerned with at all.

Many of them are published authors and have much more personal experience in the area than I do, so I’m deferring to their assessment of the topic. Instead, I thought I would take this time to write about what I am more familiar with, which are the comments left on my writing, both on the blog itself and through my social media connections.

As I’ve gained more readers, I’ve also seen an increase in comments left. It’s an interesting dynamic sometimes, as I allow for anonymous comments to be left on my blog.  I’ve found that people tend to be far more bold with what they say when they are able to hide their identity. Sometimes this makes them more crass, more offensive, more obnoxious. As the blog owner I reserve the right to refuse to publish those comments that cross a line, particularly if left anonymously. I refuse to allow my site to be used as a platform for people to declare hatred, bigotry, or display any other unpalatable opinions.

Though allowing anonymous comments comes with it’s drawbacks, I’ve found many times that anonymous comments tend to be more honest, probably because of the secret nature of them. On Blogger, anonymous comments are truly anonymous, and there is no connection to any profiles or any way for me to ever know who left them. This secretive nature may encourage people to be more critical of my writing, or of the topics I write about, because there is no fear of the message being connected to them.

As a writer, I appreciate the honesty.

The comment universe on Facebook and Twitter is very different than what occurs on the blog itself primarily because of the fact that every comment is attached to the user’s profile and it is visible to anyone who uses those platforms. While that attachment certainly tempers the comments left by many people, there are always a few who say what they want regardless of the connection to them.

On my Facebook page, I very specifically say that I welcome all opinions and commentary, so long as people can remain respectful towards me and towards my other fans. For the most part, this request of respect works. I have only had to ban one fan for being disrespectful in over four years of page administration. (off to knock on wood now...)

The discussions on Facebook often take unexpected turns, usually based on someone misinterpreting something someone else says, or their personal experience altering their impression of what I write. I have been blamed for what other people have commented on my writing before, as though I have any control over how they process it.

The consequences of the comments on my writing on Facebook have been big ones for me personally at times. I’ve had friends get into arguments with one another. I’ve had friends and family get angry with me. I’ve had passionate debates with complete strangers. I’ve thought about giving it all up more than once.

What keeps me going is the connections I make with my readers, my fans.

The nature of any form of online self-publishing, blogging included, is that it allows me to have an immediate connection with my readers. Consequently, they can give me feedback on every single thing I ever write, for better or worse, in real time. There’s no time lag. There’s no editorial process to wait through. There’s not a long period of time between pushing the publish button and knowing what people think. If they love it, I know right away. If they hate it, I know that right away too.

The immediate nature of Facebook, the impulsiveness with which people comment and post, tells me more often than not that they are being honest. Their first impression is the one they give. The anonymous comments left on my blog, often even more honest, even if brutally so at times.

As writers, we want to be relevant. We want to make connections with our readers. We want to know that people read what we write, that they care enough to tell us what they think. We want them to be honest with us, to be critical of what we say and how we say it, and then we want them to come back for more.

I’m happy to write in a medium that lets that all happen almost always openly, almost always honestly and almost always immediately.

Are reviews worth anything any more?

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For a while now, people have been blogging about Amazon's purchase of Goodreads. The fear is that the much-valued independence of Goodreads might be consumed by the retail behemoth, and that GR reviews might be subject to the same censorship as they are on Amazon. I read a blog post, though I can't remember where, that pointed out that Amazon have also bought LibraryThing and IMDB, both of which have retained their own identities and continued on in their own way, albeit with an injection of cash from Amazon to make them thrive. Reading statements from the heads of both Amazon and Goodreads would imply that no one wants to change the current working practices of either organisation - so as yet, no one has any reason to panic.

I think the biggest thing people are worried about is how the purchase might affect the quality of the reviews on Goodreads but what we need to consider is the nature of reviews to begin with. I must admit, I tend to ignore reviews for fiction, but I pay close attention to them for non-fiction. I think it's pretty much because I know how much reviews can be governed by personal preference, and what doesn't work for one reader might work for me. Plus, I always download samples if they're available (or I read the first chapter while standing in a bookstore) so I've got a good idea if the book is the right one for me before I buy. Non-fiction is a different case as it relies on research and knowledge, so if it's been reviewed by others in the same field who say it's full of holes, then I don't want to know.

But are reviews even trustworthy? For one thing, there's no way of knowing if the writer of the review knows the author - for good or bad. Non-fiction authors might slate others in their field to boost their own books, and fiction authors might do the same within their genre. Likewise, reviewers might be positive about books solely because they're friends with the author. I do think there are ways to tell - read the review, and see what the reviewers issues are. Are they leaving a one star review because they felt $1.99 was too much to pay for an e-book? See what other books they've reviewed - if they've only reviewed one, it sounds like they have an axe to grind.

My own review policy is fairly straightforward. I'll leave both good and bad reviews for non-fiction, because I want people to know if the content is worth spending money on (and let's be honest, if I've bought a book of knitting patterns and all of them have mistakes in them, then I'm going to want to warn buyers). For fiction, I'll only leave a bad review if it's poorly formatted and full of mistakes. For good reviews, I'll only leave one if it's worth four stars or more. On my blog, I only review books for four stars or more because I want to share books I've loved - I don't want to make space for books I don't feel I can recommend.

What about you? Do reviews influence your purchasing habits, and if so, how?