Here’s a post from Chuck Wendig that is, as usual, a bit long, but fun. He’s looking at it as Ways to Promote Your Self-Published Book, but obviously all these things apply to any book, whether published by you personally, a smaller press, or a Big Five publisher.
I enjoy the ratings, largely because of the snarkiness embedded in declaring that spamming BUY MY BOOK on social media is a 0/10 and even more so for the extreme snarkiness of rating thunderclapping as Who Cares, It’s Annoying.
I’d go farther for both author-spamming and thunderclapping: those are -10/10 techniques. That kind of thing will make me unfollow you SO FAST because IT IS BEYOND UNATTRACTIVE for an author to do this. For heaven’s sake, don’t you KNOW that the point of Twitter is kitten pictures? And yes, okay, links to interesting posts are good. But basically, kitten pictures, right? I mean, look at this:
See? I rest my case.
I’ve done blog book tours twice. I enjoyed doing them, but I’m not so sure they did a whole lot for sales. And they take a lot of time. So guests posts are something I’m happy to do, but preferably just now and then, not too many at once.
I should probably have an email list, though. Yeah, probably.
Giving away books: I’ve done quite a bit of this. I think it’s a good idea.
Hanging out on social media sites that actually appeal to you: well, sure. I mean, if they actually appeal to you, than it’s all good. Chuck doesn’t emphasize sticking to social media you actually like, but who could stick with it if they didn’t like it?
Anyway, you can click through if you’re interested. The comments are worth scanning, too.
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Ooh snow leopard kitties!!! Wait, what was I going to say?
Oh yeah, you asked about favorite authors a while back. I will ask about favorite short story collections, because I find these are much harder to come by.
I have exactly one: IMPOSSIBLE THINGS by Connie Willis.
>I will ask about favorite short story collections, because I find these are much harder to come by.
Yeah, I bet! Lots less attention. I’ve been really impressed by Ted Chiang’s stories. Though I don’t think he necessarily played fair in, let’s see, “Hell is the Absence of God.” Still, stories that go way beyond “solid” to “excellent” — and I say that as someone who hardly notices short stories.
Also, yes, snow leopard kitties! Aren’t they almost too cute?
THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME (v. 1, 2A and 2B) is a really good collection of the cream of older material (pre-1964).
For single-author collections, the one that springs to mind is NESFA’s complete collection of Cordwainer Smith’s short pieces, THE REDISCOVERY OF MAN.
You know, it wouldn’t seem too spammy or obnoxious if you had somewhere fairly obvious on your blog or homepage that let us know when Pure Magic will be available. I couldn’t find it on Amazon: is it not coming out on Kindle? (I thought I’d read somewhere that May was the release date?)
Kim, I did add a box right at the top of the Books page which lists forthcoming titles, including Pure Magic. I haven’t listed it on Amazon because I don’t have a cover yet, but unless the cover turns out to be a real problem, I do plan to release it on May 15th.
Yay! Yes, the Books page is fairly obvious; it would take some one about as oblivious as me not to notice it there. :)
May 15 is just in time for me to read it on the plane on the way to Europe. Very excited! (About the book, of course.)
Well, I *am* looking forward to the site being revamped, fairly soon I hope, and at that point I hope forthcoming titles will be more prominently displayed. Glad the May 15 date works for you! I hope you’re going to Europe at least partly for fun — have a great time!