How to promote your book like an intelligent human being and not an SEO Dweeb

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Al Stevens

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But that also means users using Lynx or screen readers or many mobiles/tablets won't "see" it either.

Not a good technique.
I disagree, Med. It is a very good technique. I've used it for years with no complaints.

A device that opens web pages without supporting Javascript is a questionable device at best. Javascript permeates the web. But that's not the issue. If it bugs you, you can do it with PHP.

But all is not lost. You can indeed use the technique. Test in your html whether javascript is supported and encode the alternative annoying AT notation if not. (Many users will not have any idea what that whoever AT wherever DOT com nonsense means. Particularly older ones.)

Here's one way to test for javascript:

http://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/media/jstest.htm
 

FOTSGreg

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Not surprisingly I made a few of the mistakes that Medievalist mentions in the OP and, unfortunately, I'll continue to make them.

I simply can't get into tweeting, but I do have a FaceBook account and an author section of a website that I'm being excessively lazy about updating. I have a Twitter account, but I never use it. When one of my books sells I post to FB and thank my readers and customers. I have a blog, but it's been awhile since I updated it. Something like 85-90% of my FaceBook friends are name authors so I refrain from spamming them with constant marketing of my stuff. I need to update my sig here to include links to Amazon, Smashwords, and PubIt! I need to participate in the Goodreads forums (I have an account, just never go there) and the Kindle and Smashwords forums too.

I've been patient, haven't tooted my own horn too much, and I'm seeing steadily increasing sales (nothing special), but lately I'm thinking I've been too patient and lazy about marketing my work. I've been very, ah, reticent, about marketing too much.
 

merrihiatt

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I succumbed to Twitter yesterday. Have no clue what I'm doing, but I'm tweeting and I have a few followers, as well as folks I'm following. I even managed to retweet once.
 

Rina Evans

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I recently got a message from a Goodreads author. She friend-requested me because she found me in a mutual GR group, even though we'd never spoken before. Then she plugged her book and said she wanted to connect with readers of the genre.

Now she seems nice, I checked her out, even has a book that would interest me, but I still feel sort of... annoyed. We have like... six books in common, why FRIEND me? My biggest genre is MM romance and hers is MG books.

Do you guys get 'promo' on Goodreads? What is the unofficial etiquette of Goodreads promotion?
 

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I
Do you guys get 'promo' on Goodreads? What is the unofficial etiquette of Goodreads promotion?

Don't do what she did.

Friend people you already have a connection with--for instance, many people on AW will friend posters they recognize.

Friend people with whom you interact on Goodreads.

Friend people with whom you have a greater connection than, say, you both read SF.

If you both have every single book Laura Mixon writes, for instance.

In the real world, you wouldn't knock on a stranger's door and say "Hi! My name is Jean Poultry and I wrote this incredible thriller set in San Juan. I just happen to have a copy with me right now, and it's yours for a mere 10.00!!"

Don't reach out to people purely to sell your book, or with that as a prime motive.

You're better off being a person that's interesting, and helpful, who happens to have written a nifty looking book.
 

Al Stevens

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What is the difference between "friending" and "following" in social networking?
 

Bubastes

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What is the difference between "friending" and "following" in social networking?

This is the way I see it: friending (i.e., Facebook and Goodreads) is a symmetric relationship, while following (i.e., Twitter) is an asymmetric relationship. This article explains it pretty well.

But it has become increasingly clear that Facebook is modeling personal relationships, not relationships based on attention. That’s the crucial difference between Facebook and Twitter at the moment.

I have approximately twenty times more Twitter followers than I do Facebook friends (Me on Twitter | Facebook). I doubt I could ever have as many friends on Facebook as followers on Twitter, because if I did I would have to pay attention to all of them, all of the time. On Twitter I don’t even try to follow everyone because I don’t have enough attention to do so (I tend to follow people I’ve met). Similarly, many of the people I follow don’t follow me back. Why would they?

When you friend someone, you're asking them to pay attention to you (which is why friending someone you don't know is rude). When you follow someone, you aren't asking anything of them -- you're simply paying attention to them. Does that make sense?
 

Deleted member 42

What is the difference between "friending" and "following" in social networking?

Bubastes has a good response, but honestly, like bookmark vs favorite, they can mean the same thing, but on different services/networks.

In some cases, there's even a tertiary gradation:

You can, on LibraryThing, "Watch" someone's library (if it's public) without needing to "Friend" them. You can also have "Contacts." Generally the site-specific Help explains it.
 

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Personally, I have zero idea, nada, how I managed to acquire as many big name authors As friends on FaceBook as I've managed. To most of them I'm just another fan (I only know Glen Cook, David Gerrold, and one or two others personally).

However, one thing I'm trying to emulate online is the overall "character" of professional authors. They are, at least the ones I know, all polite, open with their views, and pleasant people to be in a conversation with - reasonable, if direct, personable, if opinionated, and open to new ideas and concepts.
 

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However, one thing I'm trying to emulate online is the overall "character" of professional authors. They are, at least the ones I know, all polite, open with their views, and pleasant people to be in a conversation with - reasonable, if direct, personable, if opinionated, and open to new ideas and concepts.

John Scalzi is impressive; he does actively promote his work, but he spends more time promoting other people's books that he genuinely believes in, and in being a thoughtful writer /human than in relentlessly self-marketing.

Victoria Strauss is another example. I bought her books because she was interesting; then I began buying her other books from her backlist, because she's a good story teller.
 
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FOTSGreg

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Notice that most professional authors don't really "market". They talk about other things. They make friends. They discuss controversial topics. They don't rant. They support causes they believe in.

In other words, they get their name out there in front of people by being, well, people, not by marketing their work. Word if mouth seems to work pretty damned good when someone's being a real person rather than constantly hawking their stuff.
 

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Notice that most professional authors don't really "market". They talk about other things. They make friends. They discuss controversial topics. They don't rant. They support causes they believe in.

Exactly. They participate in the conversation as people, not book pimps.

People who say/write interesting things (interesting—not controversial for the sake of driving traffic) make readers curious; we click on the About link on their blog, or the sig.

People who read have essentially picked text as their drug of choice, and writers are our providers.
 

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Jim Hines is also a dream to follow. His take on cover model pictures of women on fantasy books had me laughing for days.

One of the things I most admire about Jim Hine's site is that he is not just courteous, he is kind.

That's huge.
 

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Who are some other "model" authors in terms of Web/online presence?
 

thefallenalchemist

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What if you live out in the middle of nowhere and don't really have a stable internet connection? Should just give up until I move to a bigger city? Heck, maybe start going to college for computer tech?

The thing about all this, is that it's extremely frustrating. You never think that when you write the book, that there's going to be such a hassle involved in getting it out there. But these days, almost everyone's got a book and only few authors are recognized. I've written two books and one novella, and only sold 2 copies on Lulu from a friend who bought them.

Maybe I should write for games instead? Originally, I wanted my novels to be graphic novels, but I'm not a very good artist. Perhaps if I take some programming, I could learn how to create a role-playing platformer that would encompass the weird and over the top story of my Will's Downfall trilogy. Indie games are in, and a programmer friend of mine told me that I really should start learning how to program games.I used to program with RM2K and MMFe and MUGEN back in the day, so perhaps I can learn this new software too.

I can still write, but the medium would be more accessible, because less people are reading these days then playing games on their phones/tablets/pc's/game consoles.
 

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I'm not sure I agree with that last statement, alchemist. According to the reports I've seen more people than ever are using their phones, tablets, and computers to read ebooks and the number is increasing rapidly. Sure, lots of people use them to play games on too, but a large number of people are reading on their phones and tablets.
 

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Other authors I love online (and have never met): Coleen Doran, Donna Barr, Lynn Flewelling, Ellen Kushner. They are very... real. And yet still awesomely mega-cool.
 

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Yeah, and yesterday I received a direct message on Twitter from someone I do not know and do not follow:

Could you help promote ******** *** ****? Just click on <snip> and then retweet! Many thanks!! - S****
Don't do this. It's rude.


Also, there's the cute trick of thanking me for following you when I haven't. Do they really think that I'm going to fret that Twitter has malfunctioned and 'unfollowed' random people who I meant to keep up with? That I'll leap to remedy the glitch?

Grrrrrrr.
 

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Oops! No. You're right. The DM was from someone I followed and he was linking to someone I didn't. So he was spamming as a favor to a friend.
 
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