Comments on Joseph L. Selby Writes: Beware the Gimmicks

Asking other people to retweet unless you're i...

2012-01-06T14:36:07.338-05:00

Asking other people to retweet unless you're in a contest or raising money for charity is just a crass thing to do.

Totally agree with this. I have a tough enough tim...

2012-01-06T11:13:21.082-05:00

Totally agree with this. I have a tough enough time wrapping my head around Twitter to begin with, so receiving hordes of hourly posts to the tune of "Buy my book!" from the same person just wears me out. Similarly, I feel like anybody who starts a tweet with the simultaneously pathetic and appalling phrase, "Worth the RT?" should be summarily ejected.

Sometimes I think about marketing, but mostly I tr...

2011-12-29T12:52:27.537-05:00

Sometimes I think about marketing, but mostly I try not to worry too much about it. It's a subject I feel very conflicted about. I know I will need to market myself and my books. That's a given. But it feels like the methods to do so can often come across as gimmicky, like you said. How do you know when you're overexposed versus under? How do you know if reaching people or not?

Because to me, that's the rub. Some agents put a big emphasis on blog and twitter followers. But there's no way to really calculate how effective they are. A 1,000 followers in no way shape or form translate to a 1,000 readers. It could mean one of your followers recommends your book to someone else, but there's still no gurentees.

That being said, I think keeping a web presence IS important. So yeah, I dunno. Mixed feelings abound.

As best as I can figured, the best thing is try to remain as honest and genuine as you can. Because people can and do spot a fake a mile away.