This might seem a little controversial. I don’t mean it to be. The thing is, I’m wondering if there is a point at which you all think author self-promotion crosses the line from jokingly “shameless” to actually shameful and annoying.
Let me start with this premise: I love hearing about news sales and author achievements. Love it, especially the sales stuff. But every now and then I’ll be on a writer loop or message board and see that a particular person has posted or said something and my initial reaction is, “oh, here we go…” See, to me there seem to be some folks who are so invested in telling you how great they are that they never seem to say anything else.
Now, I’m not talking about information posted on an author’s personal website or blog. That’s self-promotion territory as far as I’m concerned. If you don’t like it, don’t visit. Those are the author’s playgrounds and the places where she should tell you how wonderful she is. And, I’m not talking about the “hey, I finaled in this contest” type of posting that happens now and then. Those are interesting and fun and we all love celebrating those.
I’m talking about the author who must tell you about her greatness every single time she posts anything wherever she is. Do you guys see that sort of thing? I’m trying to figure out if my reaction is overblown - ie, I need to get over it. If you see this, does it play a role in whether or not you buy an author’s books? Is this a case where the author’s public persona can affect how you look at the author’s books and whether you’ll go ahead and buy them?
Since this is one of those things I think about, I’d love to hear your thoughts. As my way of thanking you for participating, I’ll give a book of your choice from my backlist (that would be all two of them) to a person chosen at random from those commenting.
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Hi, HelenKay.
Cant say as I have ever come across this.
And as I said before, what makes me choose a book is reading the back blurb, if I love an author’s work, reading an excerpt somewhere or sometimes a referral.
Someone bragging about themself certainly Would NOT have a positive impact; probably just the opposite.
by Pat L
on May 29th, 2007 at 6:12 am
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I really had to think about this one. I have seen, to some degree, what you’re talking about. When you’re a member of many different message boards and you see this often, it does tend to be a little annoying. The only impact it has on me is that I will skim or skip over that author’s posts. It would not have a detrimental effect on whether I purchased their books or not. I base my purchases on whether I like their writing voice.
by Cheryl S.
on May 29th, 2007 at 6:43 am
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I agree with Cheryl. I also skim over those posts. I basically visit these boards to find out about new books or books I’ve missed. As far as them bragging about themselves, I could care less. I just skip it and go to the nest one. I love reading the excerpts and knowing more about the characters. That’s what grabs my attention.
by Kimmy
on May 29th, 2007 at 10:11 am
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Hi HelenKay,
I too skip over the excessive self-promotion posts. Sometimes I wonder if they do it to try to up their sales due to the pressure of the publishers wanting better numbers from them.
It doesn’t affect my decision whether to buy the authors book, the blurb or a review helps me make my choice.
by Susan
on May 29th, 2007 at 10:46 am
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it does not effect me, i buy what i like
by kim h
on May 29th, 2007 at 11:46 am
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I think I agree with everyone who posted above that I usually will tend to skip the many paragraphs of bragging and try to concentrate on the book and it’s promotions instead. I mean, I love to congratulate an author when he or she wins an award or sells a new book, but the other bragging posts….I ignore those. Does it affect if I buy a book or not? Not usually. I tend to think that a book speaks for itself. You either like the way an author writes or not.
by April
on May 29th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
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Hi HelenKay,
bragging doesn’t really matter for me, if I like her writing style I buy the book.
by Danny
on May 29th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
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I do see some shameless behavior on message boards and in posts to reader’s groups I belong to, and it gets very annoying whenever someone asks for a suggestion for books, certain authors only recommend and discuss their own books every single time. I don’t mind hearing good news from authors or even hearing about new books being released and the like, but incessant self-promotion is over the line.
by Karen W.
on May 29th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
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I have to agree that it doesn’t bother me since I have the option to skip over what they’re saying. If it was an author I liked I would still buy his/her books but if it was an author who was new to me I might get a bad impression and then I wouldn’t be so interested in trying them.
by Maureen
on May 29th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
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For me, the excessive promotion is bothersome when it floods my e-mail inbox. When I sign up for an author’s newsletter or mailing list, I expect a monthly newsletter and perhaps something when a book is released. I don’t like getting e-mails with every new review that they recieve.
by Jennifer K.
on May 29th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
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I don’t have a problem with someone bragging. It’s not really one of my pet peeves. If the author’s book is one I really want I will buy it.
by Cherie Japp
on May 29th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
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I doesn’t really bother me to hear an author brag about their accomplishments. I think that anyone who gets to experience any success in this area should be proud of themselves and spread their good luck with everyone. 
by Patty L.
on May 29th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
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Hi all,
I think readers have a choice when it comes to visiting author sites and message boards, where I think its to be expected there will be “promotion.” I don’t think its shameless, I think its necessary.:-) There are so many books competing for readers attention and its only necessary for authors like movie stars to “plug” their stuff.
And if it gets too much for a reader, I think we all have a choice to avoid that author.
by carol
on May 29th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
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I think it happens more often on the writers loops opposed to the readers ones (at least that I’ve seen). I will admit there’s one particular writer who’s annoyed me enoughwith her shameless self promo I’ve marked her as spam and all her posts go to my trash automatically 
by Lis
on May 29th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
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I’d so much rather hear from other people how great a book is. But even then I take it with a grain of salt because I know friends and family also rave about it. I don’t dislike someone for raving about their work but I rarely pay attention to it. I usually have to hear about a book from many different places before it would make a difference.
by catslady
on May 29th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
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I basically ignore author promos unless they have blurbs, excerpts, or contests in them. But I have noticed that with some authors that is all they do. They promo and nothing else. Now those I especially ignore. I like a little chitchat with a sales attempt lol.
by Pamk
on May 29th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
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I have to agree with Parnk above. I just ignore the author promos and send it to my trash bin. If they include new books, excerpts, contests, etc. then I usually read them. Sometimes I won’t bother reading the e-mail at all and just delete it.
Now in blogs I just normally skip those that are authors who don’t have anything interesting to say. Although I have read some authors comments that are really compassionate to the other people posting and those I read. I usually buy what books I like so when the author brags it doesn’t bother me when deciding what book to buy. I like so many different genres that I buy a lot of books!
by Michele L.
on May 29th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
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I really didn’t take much notice, but then that must be because with a single glance I made the decision to skip it and put it out of my head at that same moment. It is the authors right to put up what they want, just as it is my right to read it if I choose or not.
by Sue A.
on May 30th, 2007 at 2:34 am
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I see it a bit, but it’s been awhile where I can remember anything that’s excessively self-promoting. I tend to agree that it’s a good thing, up to a point. But if the only thing an author does is talk about herself/himself wherever they visit, after awhile I’m going to tune it out. I do think it’s perfectly fine at one’s one site/blog, but traveling the web to promote oneself everywhere they go is a bit tacky.
Now I like to visit blogs where the author is great about talking about their books and when they are released. It’s a great reminder for me - I hate making up lists - and it lets me know about future books. I make mention of this because there are some authors who don’t update their website/blog, and I find that frustrating too. I want to hear about the WIP.
by Stacy ~
on May 30th, 2007 at 5:48 am
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The only thing that annoys me is when an author never comes onto a loop except to promote his or her books. If an author is on the loop regularly, participating in the conversation, then I don’t care if she comes on to celebrate when her book comes out or she wins and award or gets a great review. But if that’s the only thing we ever hear from her, then it almost feels like she’s butting into a conversation.
by Diana
on May 30th, 2007 at 7:49 am
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It does not effect me, either. If I like the blurb, then I buy the book.
by Minna
on May 30th, 2007 at 8:42 am
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If I like the book, I will buy it. It does not effect me.
by Amy S.
on May 30th, 2007 at 10:20 am
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I usually buy books by my favorite authors or because I’ve read the book blurb and am interested in the book.
by Teresa W.
on May 30th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
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There’s so much to scan and skip on the Net that I think I’ve become half blind to issues like this. I have seen it, but don’t bother with it, so let it be. (Cue the Beatles.)
by Paula
on May 30th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
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Usually when I see these posts, I stop visiting the blog/website altogether. I may still receive the author’s newsletter just to keep updated with new releases…but not with these daily praises..LOL!
by Kathleen
on May 30th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
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It doesn’t bother me. If I like the book, I will buy it.
by Crystal B.
on May 31st, 2007 at 2:48 pm
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And the winner is….Lis (Comment #14). Congrats!!!! 
Email me with your choice and mailing information.
by HelenKay
on June 1st, 2007 at 1:54 pm
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wtg liz
by kim h
on June 1st, 2007 at 6:29 pm
