So I’m on GoodReads. But I don’t do much there-just keep my profile up, approve the friend requests & add in new books I buy when I remember. If I was any sort of organized, I could probably organize my books, the books I want, the books I’ve read through there a lot better. That’s a ramble for another today, though. Today isn’t about rambles. It’s about ranting.
Dear GoodReads Authors:
- If you are recommending your own books to me, please stop. It’s annoying. And no, I’m not the only one who thinks so… ask the readers… they get annoyed, too. Many of them go and unfriend when happens too often.
- If you are friending me just to pimp your books? Don’t bother. Because I will not buy you. There is such a thing as subtly. Use a dictionary and look it up.
- If you send me a message asking me to recommend your books to my friends-after all, ‘I’m self-published and I am my own marketing and publicity team’, not only will I not check your book out, your name now goes on my list of authors I’m not very likely to buy… yes, I realize self-pubbed authors have to handle marketing & publicity on their own. That’s a hard gig. That’s why I’m not a fan of going that route-it’s too much hard work. But you signed up for it. You do that hard work. Don’t try to enlist me. And when you try to enlist others, whether readers or authors through such hard-sell tactics, you actually do more harm than good… you might get a few who do that, but true word of mouth does you a lot more good than… “please oh please oh please buy my book’ (That tactic didn’t work for Doug the dog in UP when he was trying to talk the bird into his prisoner. It’s not going to work for you either.)
- Stop bleating about how wonderful your books are. We all want to think our books are awesome. We really, really do. But if you can’t actually interact with people withoutsinging your own praises? You’ve lost people before you’ve really even had a chance to hook them.
- And if you’re wondering who this is directed to…well, I’m not naming names-that’s not cool, it’s not professional, but for crying out loud, if you’re one of bajillion that keep recommending your own books to me???? Or you friended me just to pimp your books??? Or you’re one of the numerous self-pubbed authors who messaged me thinking you could get me to recommend your books to others???? Yes. I’m sorry, I don’t want to be harsh, but yep, it’s directed toward you.
Subtly… it can do you a world of good.
And on occasion, so can sending out a good, old-fashioned, smack-them-over-the-message like this. When you annoy readers, you lose readers.
Good rant. I know a few authors that fall into this.
I have one to add … It’s annoying when they friend request you to pimp their books, so you ignore the friend request and they friend request you again!
“There is such a thing as subtly. Use a dictionary and look it up.”
ADVERB “subtly” (comparative more subtly, superlative most subtly)
With subtleness, in a subtle manner. With cleverness rather than brute force.
NOUN “subtlety” sub·tle·ty (stl-t)
1. The quality or state of being subtle.
2. Something subtle, especially a nicety of thought or a fine distinction.
“Subtly… it can do you a world of good.
And on occasion, so can sending out a good, old-fashioned, smack-them-over-the-message like this. When you annoy readers, you lose readers.”
Thank you very much from a reader. I will fan/follow you, but a friend is just that.
AGREED. That drives me insane and I have defriended people on GR for doing that to me.
I’ve noticed a correlation between people who do this and the people who want to friend me who have more friends than books. Just saying…
Exactly!!! I’m glad to see someone speaking out about that kind of tactic. I will not buy books under those very circumstances…and ones I actually checked out really weren’t very good reads. If I like a book that I’ve read, I’m going to check out the writer’s website to find more of the same.
One of my online friends asked me to join it for some reason and I registered. I keep my own library catalogued on LibraryThing so I have no reason to use this for that purpose. Also would not use it to pimp my own books; that seems kind of squicky. I couldn’t even if I wanted to; I forgot the password I used for the account ten seconds after I registered.
Had no idea this kind of thing was going on. I’ll have to delete my account.