I Hate Being Wrong...
But I've been known to be...once. ::wink, wink::
If you've read my blog more than once, you've likely read my thoughts on book promotion. The issue of how much an author should promote is an age-old debate among writers, 1) because we're lonely and debate keeps us interacting with one another and 2) because the average writer would like their book to succeed and thus knowing how much promo to put into it is a natural curiosity.
Ally Carter, author of the Gallagher Girl series, has - for some time now - been vocal about authors putting a more realistic bent on promotional activities - and doing only the level of promo they're comfortable. It's a point she and I firmly agree.
She and I have been in several loops where the discussion arose. So, I know how weary she is of answering it because so many writers seem to hear what she says but not listen.
I'm guilty of it as well. Because, where our opinions get a bit fragmented is within the bolded part of her statement, from her August 22 blog post:
My opinion about MySpace and those sites is pretty much my opinion on ALL promotional activities: do what you enjoy for as much time as you enjoy it and then get back to work. I think a lot of authors (and I was one of them for a while) put sooooo much pressure on themselves to be promotion machines. But that's not the job. The job is to write the best possible books we can write--if we do that, then I'm a firm believer that eventually, the rest will take care of itself.
I don't disagree in principal. Well, I don't disagree at all. Writing the best book we can is our job - 100%.
It's just that there are a lot of really good books out there that don't become best sellers or even sell well. Learning what I've learned, in the last year, and hearing some horror stories from authors who aren't me - I practically choke on the thought that once I turn in a book I'd rely mostly on its quality to see it through.
However, after a year of promoting off and on for my books, I've got to say I now see more clearly why Ally's stance on this is so firm. And when I read between the lines of her words, what I take from it is - it's not that promotion isn't essential, it's just there's no accounting for how successful any of it will be, how many book sales you can actually attribute to it. However, you can control how good your book is.
I have no idea what has generated the bulk of my book sales?
- The ad in Girls Life, in March
- Face out love in the bookstores
- My website
- My Myspace
- Word-of-mouth
- Library Visits
- Blogging
- Cyber tours
- Author collaboratives
- Articles in various media outlets
- Local television shows
::Shrug:: No idea. And I've done 'em all. But I do know that I've finally (finally) come to terms with the fact that book sales are so out of my hands and that time is better spent writing than promoting - which eats up a tremendous amount of energy, time and sometimes money.
So, in that regards, Ally is right and I am...::cough, cough:: wr...not right.
It doesn't mean I'll no longer promote. And, truth be told, the promotion I've done to date is within both reason and my comfort zone. I've never gone beyond my budget or available time to promote.
However, promotion has eaten away at time I could have been writing, more than I care to admit. I have over-fretted over the details of various promo activities - energy wasted. And, for some activities, it's taken literally hours to lay the ground work. It's stressful, for sure.
I've done each activity, more or less, anxiously hoping it would make some sort of tangible difference. And I can't say that any have. Intangible impact - definitely. Sales? Couldn't tell you.
So, admitting I was...not right, is therapeutic. I'm looking at promo differently than I did nine months ago.
And that means, when I go on my next promo streak I'll leave the angst out of the loop. It's the anxiety of promotion that sucks up the most energy, not the actual promo itself. If I'm going to angst over anything it's getting the book, just right.
Touche Ally. Touche.
If you've read my blog more than once, you've likely read my thoughts on book promotion. The issue of how much an author should promote is an age-old debate among writers, 1) because we're lonely and debate keeps us interacting with one another and 2) because the average writer would like their book to succeed and thus knowing how much promo to put into it is a natural curiosity.
Ally Carter, author of the Gallagher Girl series, has - for some time now - been vocal about authors putting a more realistic bent on promotional activities - and doing only the level of promo they're comfortable. It's a point she and I firmly agree.
She and I have been in several loops where the discussion arose. So, I know how weary she is of answering it because so many writers seem to hear what she says but not listen.
I'm guilty of it as well. Because, where our opinions get a bit fragmented is within the bolded part of her statement, from her August 22 blog post:
My opinion about MySpace and those sites is pretty much my opinion on ALL promotional activities: do what you enjoy for as much time as you enjoy it and then get back to work. I think a lot of authors (and I was one of them for a while) put sooooo much pressure on themselves to be promotion machines. But that's not the job. The job is to write the best possible books we can write--if we do that, then I'm a firm believer that eventually, the rest will take care of itself.
I don't disagree in principal. Well, I don't disagree at all. Writing the best book we can is our job - 100%.
It's just that there are a lot of really good books out there that don't become best sellers or even sell well. Learning what I've learned, in the last year, and hearing some horror stories from authors who aren't me - I practically choke on the thought that once I turn in a book I'd rely mostly on its quality to see it through.
However, after a year of promoting off and on for my books, I've got to say I now see more clearly why Ally's stance on this is so firm. And when I read between the lines of her words, what I take from it is - it's not that promotion isn't essential, it's just there's no accounting for how successful any of it will be, how many book sales you can actually attribute to it. However, you can control how good your book is.
I have no idea what has generated the bulk of my book sales?
- The ad in Girls Life, in March
- Face out love in the bookstores
- My website
- My Myspace
- Word-of-mouth
- Library Visits
- Blogging
- Cyber tours
- Author collaboratives
- Articles in various media outlets
- Local television shows
::Shrug:: No idea. And I've done 'em all. But I do know that I've finally (finally) come to terms with the fact that book sales are so out of my hands and that time is better spent writing than promoting - which eats up a tremendous amount of energy, time and sometimes money.
So, in that regards, Ally is right and I am...::cough, cough:: wr...not right.
It doesn't mean I'll no longer promote. And, truth be told, the promotion I've done to date is within both reason and my comfort zone. I've never gone beyond my budget or available time to promote.
However, promotion has eaten away at time I could have been writing, more than I care to admit. I have over-fretted over the details of various promo activities - energy wasted. And, for some activities, it's taken literally hours to lay the ground work. It's stressful, for sure.
I've done each activity, more or less, anxiously hoping it would make some sort of tangible difference. And I can't say that any have. Intangible impact - definitely. Sales? Couldn't tell you.
So, admitting I was...not right, is therapeutic. I'm looking at promo differently than I did nine months ago.
And that means, when I go on my next promo streak I'll leave the angst out of the loop. It's the anxiety of promotion that sucks up the most energy, not the actual promo itself. If I'm going to angst over anything it's getting the book, just right.
Touche Ally. Touche.
posted by Paula at 1:49 PM
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