Inspired by Doggy Hall of
Shame, I decided to blast right into 2015 with my own Book Marketing Hall
of Shame. Sadly, I’m pretty sure this list represents only a fraction of the
bad promotional moves authors make (can you say “desperation”?). Please, don’t
every let me catch you doing any of these things:
·
The unwanted “gift”: A few weeks ago, an author I’ve never
met emailed me a promotional code to his book. Six days later, he followed up
with this message: It appears you are not
going to redeem the iBooks store promo code I sent to you. Apple issues a
limited number and each has a lifespan of only four weeks and then expires
forever, so I am resending yours to Cat Channel to begin my effort to drum up
some publicity for Christmas Season 2015. If you should ever decide you want to
become part of the millions who will yet read this book, just let me know and I
will check out another from of [sic] my quota of codes and send to you. Let’s
start with the obvious: Don’t dump your books on people who aren’t interested
in them. Don’t chide strangers for not using a “gift” they never asked for in
the first place. And please. The millions who will yet read this book? Dear me.
·
The spam blog comment: Recently, Mr. Z.H. left a comment on
one of my blog posts: a linked title to a book, along with this book
description: Author [name deleted, for
obvious reasons] shares his triumphs and trials and experiences as an
entrepreneur, car dealer, statesman, father and husband of 25 years and teaches
us how to do more with less during tough times. He teaches how to leverage,
barter, negotiate & stretch your dollar. These tips and tricks can pay big
dividends throughout a lifetime. Dear Mr. Author (and your hired lackey,
Z.H.), let me tell you what does not
pay big dividends: spamming another author’s website.
·
The false friend: One of my (real) friends got so fed up with
over-zealous promotion on social media that she made this pronouncement: As a published author
and current writer-editor who used to work at a publishing house, I am a very
strong advocate for books and authors. However, when someone becomes a FB
friend and immediately begins marketing their latest book and posting their
book trailer and more on my timeline, I'm going to delete it and unfriend you. Here’s the deal, authors: It’s great to share your book
news with your real friends. But be prudent. Think of how it looks on the
receiving end, especially on Facebook where it’s tough to figure out why particular
posts end up on our timelines. Facebook, by the way, is reportedly cracking
down on posts that do nothing but push people to buy a product.
·
The fake review: Online vendors do their best to target fake reviews and
take them down, but judging from some of the adverts on fiverr (“fast
glowing review,” “I will post a verified book review in 24 hours,” “positive
verified review very fast”), the bogus review industry is still alive and well.
Don’t feed it.
Co-founder of 49 Writers and founder of the
independent authors cooperative Running Fox Books, Deb
Vanasse has authored fifteen
books. Her most recent are What
Every Author Should Know, a comprehensive guide to book publishing and
promotion, and Cold
Spell, a novel that “captures the harsh beauty of the terrain as well as
the strain of self-doubt and complicated family bonds,” according to Booklist.
