I've written two posts on this topic previously, and both of them have been received just as I had hoped for. I've had most authors agree, and I hope accept some of these 'mistakes' they make while interacting with bloggers. Both the previous posts resulted in a lot of comments and discussions here on the blog, as well as on a number of Facebook author groups. I was actually surprised to see how receptive these posts have been. Don't get me wrong, I did get a few reactions I had expected in the beginning. A few authors argued that I had no right to point these out, or that bloggers were worse or at least just as guilty. I had a couple of authors post counter arguments to my points in the previous two posts, and I loved that. They were gracious and did not try to bash me. Each post was extremely respectful. For all of this, I am extremely grateful.
If you'd like to take a look at the previous two posts, head over to check out post number one and post number two. And to read the author reactions to my posts, check out the replies by author Natalie Star to post one and author Tara Chevrestt to post two. With that out of the way, let's get to the third and final post in the series.
“Thanks for the follow! I’d love if you could review my book or do an interview on your blog! :-)” This one was a DM I got right after I had followed the author back. What do you think happened?
“Thanks for the follow. If you have time check out my brand new Children's book!” Children’s book, really?
“Hi. I was wondering if you could review my book, The Secret To Attaining Wealth. Love to send you an electronic copy. Thanks let me know.” Do you even know who I am or what I do? I have done my MBA in Finance and have an inbuilt bullshit detector for all secrets to attaining wealth. I have a secret for you, but you can’t tell anyone! Work hard and love what you do for many years and you will attain wealth!
Want to learn what to do to make twitter work for you? Check this post out; it has got some really good advice. “Lesson on social media etiquette folks: don't use those programs that automatically calls people out for unfollowing, not following back, etc. It makes you look like a tool.”
I have a blogger friend who prefers to read YA, romance or erotica only and says so on her blog. And, she gets requests for SF, autobiographies, non-fiction even. She had an author who wrote fantasy who kept pestering her with review requests, and she was always gracious and said no each time. This went on for months! Finally, she just had to stop replying to his emails. Wow!
And don’t even get me started on badly behaving authors! Just because they pay a company to run their tour, they expect to get glowing reviews for their books. I remember when one author got into a debate with a number of bloggers on a tour because he received 3-star reviews for his book. He went to the extent that he demanded that one of the reviews be removed completely and not be posted to Amazon. And he pestered and threatened the blog tour company to remove said blog from the tour. Final outcome? The blog in question was removed, but I ended up deleting his interview on my blog as I did not want to interview such a petty author. Oh, and the review ended up on Amazon anyways. All we ask is that authors be considerate and professional. How hard is that?
I know how authors are going to react to this. What about all those malicious reviews which some reviewers like to leave which amount to nothing more than “I hate this, this is rubbish” or “This author does not know how to write, he should have stuck to his old profession”? Here also, I have one advice only. Walk away. Turn around and leave. If a person is going to leave such a review, what do you think will happen if you comment? He and his troll friends will only prey on you more. You know that terrible website called “Stop the GR Bullies”? It would never have happened if authors ignored such reviews. Getting into discussions with such idiots makes you look like a bigger fool, and readers who see it will be turned off from your writing. This is definitely not what you want!
~~~~~~~~~~
So this brings us to the end of this series. I really hope this has been somewhat helpful, and not many feelings have been hurt. I have enjoyed writing this series immensely and I hope authors take something positive away from this. As always, I'd love to hear your comments about what I am saying. Please be brutally honest!
So AUTHORS, what do you think? Do you think this is too harsh? Do you believe avoiding these 'pitfalls' would help you in getting a better 'hit rate' with bloggers?
And BLOGGERS, tell me if you've had similar experiences. Also, what is your biggest pet peeve regarding how authors approach you with review requests? Leave a comment below, and I could add it to my ever expanding list. Of course I'll give you due credit to bringing it to my attention and will add a link to your blog to the posts.
~~~~~~~~~~
All excellent points, and you write very well. I enjoyed the entire series, even if quite a bit of what you discuss in this third entry is common sense.
ReplyDeleteI agree most of these things are common sense, but still a few authors don't get it. smh
DeleteI'm with you on all of these. Especially Twitter - when I first got going, I followed a ton of Indie Authors. Only to discover that every other tweet was a promo, a link, a request for attention. I ended up deleting almost 2/3rds of all the authors I had just signed up to follow.
ReplyDeleteAs for not responding to negative reviews... that one can be tough. Especially when the reviewer posts some interesting questions, or seems curious about why an author made the decisions he made. In those situations, I've twice emailed the reviewer privately to see if they would like to engage in a conversation, while first making it clear that my email was not meant to be confrontational and that I respected their right to think whatever they wished of my work. I'm glad both emails sparked good conversations, but I don't think I'll be sending any more of those out.
Thanks for the great blog post series! Take home message: be professional, be courteous, be considerate, and be patient.
Thank you Phillip, that is the perfect way to sum things up. I do agree with having discussions with reviewers/bloggers. But it is really easy to let things go out of hand and get into an argument. If you can avoid that, I think it is a really good thing to send out emails answering questions raised in a review.
DeleteLike the other two posts, you made great posts. I agree with all of them and hope to put anything I've learned to use to make my interacts with bloggers smooth and professional.
ReplyDeleteThank you Patricia, that is exactly what I had hoped for. For authors to take away something positive from this series, sadly not all authors got the same message.
DeleteHey Ritesh :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything here...Once again you've got it spot on. An author should know better.
Twitter, I have, and yes I promo, but that's because I have it connected to Facebook. Anything I write on Facebook goes on Twitter also. Why? Because I hate all the links peope put up there xD
It's always best for the author to just say "thank you" to a reviewer. They took the time to read the book and no matter what the review, you still thank them for that time.
I got a two birdy review once, I said thank you, but I did tell her that I didn't want her to put it up on the blog. Not because it was bad. To be honest, she didn't even exactly say anything bad. It was the lack of review that annoyed me. I waited over 5 months (yes that long) for a review that just told me that my two main characters got together too quickly. Nothing about the storyline, what happened in the book etc everything that should be in a review. Stuff that tells the reader what made the story good or bad.
Just like you've obviously targeted authors for their behaviour, you have to take into account that reviewers are just as bad.
I enjoyed this post :)
Natalie, I absolutely agree that reviewers are just as bad. But as a blogger, I come in contact with a lot more authors and can only say what authors do. There are a couple of authors who responded to my previous two posts with their own "I am an AUTHOR and I am pissed" series. And they made some really valid points.
DeleteI rarely use twitter these days because it's a constant blur of "buy my book" in various see-through guises. But the biggest no-no for me is on facebook when people send you a friend request and immediately spam your wall with their book. Instant delete of post and friend.
ReplyDeleteClare, that could be a whole new point in the series. I've received tons of those!
DeleteAnother great post. Totally agree with everything here. It is hard for authors to figure out how and when to promote their book. They are told use these social media tools and then told but don't do that. Its difficult.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, I could not have said it better myself.
DeleteI agree as well. I don't think you're being harsh at all. Most of this is common sense and anyone who wants to do well in the industry ought to act professionally. It's very much a "give what you want to get out of it" scenario. And it's something I've very much noticed in my own work and networking. Thanks for the posts. Hopefully those who need this advice most will take it to heart! :D
ReplyDeleteI hope so Liesel, but now, I am not really hopeful of that happening.
DeleteAll common sense and a well written series. I enjoyed following this one. I am guilty of the Twitter thing at times, though I try to limit promo posts to once a day or once every two days. Otherwise, I try to Tweet about what I am writing, progress on my current book, or about causes I care about that my books revolve around, which as many readers know, is domestic violence and child abuse. So I try to discuss news about those issues as well. It's a real balance act.
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine being unprofessional or rude to a blogger or reviewer. It only looks bad on yourself.
Lavinia, I don't have a problem with promo tweets. The problem I have is authors trying to cram their book down my throat on Twitter. Especially ones who are not actually following me.
DeleteInteresting post and I agree that we should always act professionally and it's my pet peeve, as an author, when authors throw childish temper tantrums when they receive a negative review. Why ask for an honest review when what you really want is to fish for compliments? In any case I do have one question about Twitter, which I do not use. If a person signs up to follow an author (author: a person who writes and sells books) how can you not expect that a great number, in fact a majority of those tweets, will be about the product that person is selling? If you don't want to see their ad campaign what exactly were you hoping to get?
ReplyDeletePam, to answer that question, there is a lot more going on, on twitter than just promos. Here are some examples. Instead of just "buy my books" or "grab my free book" tweets, an author can engage in a conversation with others, tweet about the subject matter of the books, talk about how their writing is going. It is all about networking, rather than just selling. That is the difference I talk about.
DeleteAll the pet peeves I note are about authors aggressively cramming their books down my throat, which I don't like.
I don't Twitter, but I've heard of the constant promotion on used on this network. It sounds like a place for constant commercials--which I try to avoid.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you regard reviews--good or bad. I have the mindset that reviews are strictly for readers, not the author. We shouldn't even be reading them, but we do. The only time I've ever commented on a review was when I requested one. I wrote to say thank you. That's it. Thank you.
Otherwise, the review are there to help readers. Whether the reader 'gets' the story or not isn't always the fault of the writer. The message may be clear to thousands of readers, but a handful may miss the it. It would be ridiculous to hand-feed the people who 'don't get it'. Readers who would 'get it' then would be bored with the simple plop.
I agree Diane, a thank you is really fine, though some readers/reviewers frown on that as well. But trying to argue or correct a reader's opinion in a review is a really terrible idea.
DeleteRitesh, recently, I started to ask indie authors whose books I had reviewed to answer a few questions to add to the review in my blog. Not one has commented anything on the blog.
ReplyDeleteI decided to stop reviewing indie authors for some time. Going back to traditionals will allow me to read for pleasure and not worry about grammar, punctuation, structure et al...
Of course, neither you nor I are generalizing to all indie authors but....
I am doing the same thing Alex, I think we all need a break from time to time. And the indie world is fraught with too much drama at times which I like to avoid.
DeleteCan't find much to disagree with in this installment. Basically common sense tips and basic courtesies. I hope that most writers are already aware of most of these issues. Not sure why anyone would take offense, unless of course they are guilty of some of these complaints themselves. I agree with not commenting on reviews. There may be an artful way to defend your work if you feel you have been wrongfully critiqued on a particular point. But basically, not everyone is going to appreciate the finer points of your work. That means some bloggers, reviewers and readers are not going to like your work. That shouldn't be personal. It shouldn't even be a bad thing. It's just a thing. Keep writing, it's always the best revenge. I'm not even sure a writer should post a thank you comment. But if it is a heartfelt comment in support of the reviewers work I suppose it's alright, even thoughtful. Responding to a bad review is just calling more attention to something you probably don't want to call attention to. Better to evaluate the points in the review and see if you can address them in your future work. You can sometime win over even your harshest critic by making them feel you've taken their comments to heart and addressed your own faults. Even if you can't, adopting a defensive stance is only going to waste time that could be spent producing more work.
ReplyDeleteWow Ed. This is what I should have written in the post. Seriously, this is exactly what I was trying to get across!
DeleteUh oh . . . . I read all replies on guest posts I do and on my own blog, but I rarely respond. It doesn't mean I don't read them though. I just want people to have their say and me not to argue with them. Is that really a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteEB, I'd expect an author to come in and join the discussion on a guest post. It is why bloggers like guest posts, coz they're the most interactive posts on the blog. A lot of guest posts are opinion pieces and discussions are what make them fun. But, I'd really not like an author to get into an argument on my blog. So, it is a fine line. lol
DeleteI'm not an author yet but this was a very informative post! I agree with everything you have written but I especially agree with what you said about Twitter and TruTwitt.
ReplyDeleteIf you ask me to submit to Twitter's version of E-Verfy forget about it, I'm no longer interested in following you!
I've also found out that when you are verified by TruTwit it automatically unfollows some of your followers. So in actually you will LOSE followers in order to follow one paranoid person! It it worth it? NOT!! Of course I say this from personal experience on Twitter. When people request that I use it, I just toss them. Nothing to see here, move em right along.
Yes I agree to responding to blogs as a guest or a reader. The whole idea of blogging is to gain recognition, who will you do so if people don't respond to posts? Even worse, if you are a guest on someone's blog, it is proper to thank the host and to answer all of the comments to your post in a TIMELY manner. Also, if you are a guest on someone's blog, it goes without saying that you help boost their blog!
I hope I haven't rambled too much. Thanks for such a great post! Keep up the good work!
Some great points - okay, this is not where I put the link to my books :)
ReplyDeleteHi Ritesh,
ReplyDeleteJust finished reading all three of the posts in this series and as an author I agreed with every point you made. I think the people who compelled you to write these pet peeves out are a terrible representation of the rest of the writing public (as you pointed out, the posts were more in reference to those "bad eggs"). Nice work all around.
I am also adding this blog to my reader and look forward to seeing more posts in the future.
The rules for networking tools on social media, no matter which platforms you choose to use, are simple. Listen more than you talk, help others solve their problems, and don't be a megaphone promoting your own products. In other words, engage in discussions beyond promoting your own agenda.
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شركة مكافحة حشرات بالاحساء
ليسة من فراغ فتقدم شركتنا افضل العروض والتائج في ذالك المجال فنحن نقدم افضل العروض والخصمات من اجل عملائنا الكرام الذين قامو بتعامل معنا ومنحو شركتنا ثقه كبيرا جدا في ذالك المجال مجال شركة مكافحة حشرات فنحن نقول لك ايها العزيز اذا كان لديك منزل مالئ بالحشرات وتحتاج شركه مكافحة حشرات لتخلصك من جميع الحشرات التي داخل منزل فسوف تحتاج شركه منسبه لك من حيث الامانه والتقنيه العاليا من اجهزتها والجوده العاليا والخبره والكفائه في ذالك المجال فنحن نقول لك نحن الشركه التي انت تبحث عنها منز وقت طويل فنحن لدينا افضل الفنين ولمهندسين في ذالك المجال اتصل نصلك اينما كنت
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالقطيف
في شركة المحترف ستجد كل ماهوا جديد ومهم في عالم المكافحه فمكافحة الحشرات امر مهم جدا وستحتاج شركه لتخلصك من هذا الحشرات المزعجه التي داخل منزلك ومن انواع الحشرات الخطيره التي تتكاثر بشده في المنزل حشرت النمل الابيض فاذا وجد هذا الحشره بمنزلك فاعلم انا الخراب سيحل الي منزلك فهذا الحشره ستوجهلك مشاكل كثيره مثل التاكل في الابواب والشبابيك او الدرايش التي بالمنزل وتعمل الي نقل الامراض داخل منزلك مثل مرض البهاق ومرض احمار الجلد فاكل هذا اضرار علي اسرتك فاذا وجد هذا الحشره بمنزلك اتصل بنا فور حدوث المشكله اتصل بنا وسوف نرسل
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لك المهندسين المتخصصين بذالك المجال والفنين ليقضو علي جميع الحشرات الطائره والزاحفه بالمنزل شركة المحترف اسم يعني الثقه في مجال مكافحة الحشرات اتصل نصلك انما كنت نحن متواجدون علي مدار 24 ساعه في خدمتكم
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ReplyDeleteشركة مكافحة حشرات بالخبر شركة فارس الفرسان هى الاولى فى القضاء على الحشرات المنزلية بجـميع انواعها الزاحفة مـثل النمل الابيض ونمل الزراعة الـفـئران (الجرذان) والصـرصير بـق الـفـراش الـعـتة الـوزغ ( الـبرص ) والـطائـرة مـثل الذباب والنـاموس ونستخـدام جـهاز الـفوجـر لعمل دخـان للـقـضاء عـلية وايـضا الـزواحف السامة مثل الثـعابين والعـقارب والحـيات وغيرهم من الـزواحف السامـة القاتلة مع الضمان علي رش المبيدات وعند ظهور الحشرات مرة اخري تقوم الشركة
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالاحساء بارسال فني يقوم بالرش مرة اخرى مجانا. نحن بفضل الله نستخدام افضل انواع ألمبيدات الحشرية التي تنهي تماما علي الحشرات والزواحف وفي اسرع وقت بدون مغادرة المنزل ومصرح بها من وزارة الصحة للحفاظ على الصحة العامة سواء الأطفال أو كبار السن. عملية مكافحة الحشرات تبدأ بأن يزور الفني منزلك لمعرفة أنواع الحشرات و الزواحف كما في
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالدمام ، و يحدد نوع المواد و الأجهزة التي ستستخدم وبعد ذلك يقوم بتركيب المواد بشكل احترافي ، و بعدها يستهدف أماكن الحشرات بدقة حتي لا تظهر مرة اخري في المنزل، وعندها سوف تتخلص من الحشرات في المنزل فور انتهاء عمل المختص. عقود شهرية وسنوية للأفراد والمؤسسات والمؤسسات والشركات الكبري الخاصة والحكومية تـنظيف المفروشات والكنب والستائر مع التعطير تنظيف خزانات المياه وتعقمها. التـطور الـذي حدث في مجال رش المبـيدات ومكافـحة الحشرات والـذي يعتمد أساسا على استخدام نظام الرش المدعم بالهواء والذي بدأ استخدامه في جميع أنحاء العالم منذ عام 1946 والذي تم توظيفه وتطويرة في السنين الاخيرة
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ReplyDeleteدائما ما يبحث عنه العميل الشركة الأفضل أوالأولي أو الأقدم عموما يقوم العميل بالبحث عن شركة ذات الخبره والأقدميه في المجال ولذلك أصبحنا
ReplyDeleteأفضل شركة تنظيف خزانات بالدمام لأننا وبكل جدارة إجتزنا وتخطينا كل الصعوبات وإمتلكنا أفضل وأحدث المعدات والمواد الكامله التي تجعلنا أفضل شركة تنظيف خزانات بالدمام
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ReplyDeleteافضل شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالطائف
تعتمد الشركة كأهم شركات كشف التسربات فى بالطائف على عاملين ذوى مهارات وخبرات غير اعتيادية وامكانيات فائقه فى التعامل مع التسربات والتخلص منها تماما ؛ لانها تسبب أعباء خطيرة على الأفراد ؛ ولأننا شركة محترفه فى هذا المجال ؛ فقد استطاعت الشركة أن تحصل على أعلى الشهادات الدوليه ؛ وتقوم بالتدريب المستمر للعاملين داخل الشركة .
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ما هى مميزات الشركة كأفضل شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالطائف؟
الاعتماد على أحدث الأجهزة والمعدات دون العمل على تكسير أى جزء من المنزل للوصول الى مركز التسربات أو موقعه
• النمل الابيض وتقدم شركتنا عروض مميزة عن باقي الشركات في التخلص نهائيا على العقود السنوية التي تمنحك الثقة بنا والاطمئنان على منزلك من الحشرات عامة .
• مكافحة الفئران بالطائف أمر مهم ويجب من التخلص من الفئران في منازلنا من خلال شركتنا التي تخلصك من أي شئ يزعجك لذلك نحن افضل
• شركة مكافحة حشرات بالطائف وبعض مدن المنطقة المجاوره
• تقدم شركتنا قسم خاص بمكافحة الصراصير بالطائف حيث تكثر الصراصير في المطابخ والحمامات ويجب تنظيفهما باستمرار وتعقيمهما بمواد التنظيف والتعقيم لانة امر مزعج وجود الصراصير في المنزل , اتصل نصلك الآن حتى نخلصك من الصراصير وجميع انواع الحشرات مع الضمان .
• شركة رش مبيدات بالطائف
نأتي الى الحشرة الضارة المزعجة التي تزعج كل افراد المنزل وهي حشرة البق وتسمى بق الفراش , وهذه الحشره يجب التخلص منها عند الشعور بوجودها لان اعراضها كثيرة ومعروفة وشركتنا تقدم لك الحل الفوري الذي يقضي على بق الفراش نهائيا وبأقصى سرعة اتصل نأتيك لمكافحة بق الفراش ومحاربتها والتخلص منها للأبد
شركة نقل اثاث بالطائف شركة نقل عفش بالطائف
نقل العفش من احد مسئوليتنا التى نقوم بيها فاذا اراد ان تقوم باعمال النقل لاى نوع من” الاثاث “واى كميه من الاثاث فعليك ان تستعن بينا على الفور فنحن نعتمد على افضل الايدى العامله المميزه التى تقوم باعمال الفك او التركيب على اكمل وجه والقيام باعمال التغليف بالاعتماد
شركة نقل اثاث وعفش بالطائف على افضل الطرق واحدث الاساليب حتى لا يظهر اى نوع من انواع التلف او” سوء التخزين فى الاثاث” كل ذلك يتم فى اسرع وقت ممكن وفى مقابل اقل الاسعار المتواجده فى الاسواق فنحن على اتم استعداد للوصول الى اى “مكان فى الطائف ” لكى يتم استفاده جميع عملاءنا الكرام من خدماتنا فلا تتردد فى الاستعانه بينا الان للقيام باعمال النقل على اكمل وجه فلا داعى للتكاسل