BSP: What's the motivation? (Don't worry, it's not about my book)

[Elizabeth Zelvin]

In the wake of some intense bonding within the mystery community at Malice Domestic, and during Edgars Week before that, it has occurred to me that the main reason Blatant Self-Promotion (BSP) is so Not Done is that those who promote themselves too assiduously are seen as boastful and self-absorbed. Not so, imho: they may simply be terrified. I have been doing everything I possibly can to encourage advance buzz about my book. I’ve put the information on my email signature. I give out bookmarks to everyone I meet. I schmooze incessantly, though I hope not obnoxiously—at MWA and Sisters in Crime, at events like Malice and the Edgars, and of course in cyberspace. So now I’ve moved on to a new terror: what if those who find me charming as a person don’t like my book when it comes out next year? What if nobody likes my book? So whaddaya think? Do you agree it’s fear? If so, does it make you any more sympathetic to those who cross the invisible line and push too hard? As we shrinks love to say: How do you feel about that?

[I. J. Parker]

I have never felt comfortable with BSP. The term itself is obnoxious. Think of it as sharing exciting news instead.
It gets a tad easier once you have a few fans. Then you can pretend that you want to keep them informed.
My own bitter experience has been that people will only buy a book if they feel some obligation to the author (a hateful notion) or if they are really interested. Unfortunately, not too many people are interested in an unknown author unless the publisher has created a buzz. Therefore, the first is the hardest.
Hang in there and good luck!

[Donna Moore]

I'm with John. I love buying books by new to me authors - it's a real thrill to find a new author whose books you enjoy. And I'm no more likely to buy a book where there has been a buzz about it than I am one where there hasn't. If the premise intrigues me, or the first paragraph appeals, or I like the cover, or ... a hundred different things, then I will buy it. I bought a book called HORSE'S ARSE earlier this week just because I liked the title :o) Who knows, the book might be a pile of the stuff that comes out of one.

[Joy Calderwood]

John, was that book about Genghis Khan the new Conn Iggulden? I'm thinking that looks interesting, too. And this time he has chosen a less well-known historical period (at least to me), so there is less likely to be a cloud of complaint about the rewriting of history than there was about his Julius Caesar series.

[Karen Dionne]

The trouble with self-promotion is it's impossible to know at what point you've gone too far and become obnoxious, since everyone's tolerance level is different. There are a few folks posting to this forum I'm already skipping past because their comments are too 'me me me' for my taste. Maybe someone's doing the same with my posts - who knows?

For myself, I'm quickly coming around to the less is more camp. I'll augment my publisher's efforts to the extent that I'm able and advertise the book enough to get it out there, but I'm not going to push. If it's good, it'll sell through word of mouth - not my mouth. And if it stinks, then all the self-promotion in the world (blatant or otherwise) isn't going to help.

[Sandra Ruttan]

"So now I’ve moved on to a new terror: what if those who find me charming as a person don’t like my book when it comes out next year? What if nobody likes my book? So whaddaya think? Do you agree it’s fear? If so, does it make you any more sympathetic to those who cross the invisible line and push too hard?"

I'm with Karen - some people are too 'me me me' and there are people I ignore completely. On the one hand, it's natural enough to talk from our own experiences, but I think a lot of people can tell when the lines have been crossed.

To be honest, I think everyone should go to a few conventions before they have a publishing deal. Especially Bouchercon. Just watch when you aren't clouded by the idea of how to promote your own work. And observe how people respond. You will learn a ton about marketing... and over-promoting.

I think it's usually pretty clear when people are just nervous and they grow out of it. When people continue on with hard-core tactics they end up on my dnr list. I've seen a few people actively, publicly, encourage authors to spam and do other things I find distasteful. I avoid them.

Going back to attending conventions, my first Bouchercon was last fall but I knew people who'd attended before. Non-authors. They talked about the garbage cans filled with pins, bookmarks, gimmicky things. All that waste.

There were a couple authors last year who literally cornered me and started on the sales pitch about their book. I was backed up against a wall. Never forgot their name, I'll give them that, but it's on the list of 'will never read'. I was on a panel with someone who kept saying, "Pick up my bookmark." Someone in the audience came up to introduce themselves to me afterward and said that author sold her on their book and then unsold her - hearing about a bookmark just isn't interesting. Nobody pays all that money to go to panels to hear about bookmarks.

The golden rule on panels is be interesting. It'll do more for you than any marketing tool out there.

It may be true that everyone has a different tolerance level, but one thing I've noticed is that once there are a few hard-core self-promoters going at it a lot more people feel the inclination to jump in, so my tolerance is exceptionally low.

[Anne Frasier]

i was thinking about fear and the writer just today. if i'm not under contract I'm afraid i will never be under contract again. once i'm under contract i'm afraid i'll get dumped if i don't jump through all the hoops and don't do everything I'm asked to do. then i'm afraid my books won't sell, which circles me back to the original fear of never being under contract again. once one door of fear closes, another one opens.

[Elizabeth Zelvin]

Anne, your description of the cycle of fear hit home for me. At the recent Malice, Carolyn Hart received a lifetime achievement award and was interviewed by Nancy Pickard. Hart talked candidly about how every time she has to start a new book, she's afraid she can't do it, even though she's written so many books and won numerous awards, even a Pulitzer nomination. She tells her husband she's afraid she can't do it again, and when he points out that she always says that and always gets the book written, she says, "But this time is different." I found that oddly comforting. :)

[Kathryn Lilley]

My least favorite run-in with BSP was at a conference where I had to spend much of the time eluding an author. She kept trying to pressure people into buying her book--right then and there! Being the unassertive and overly polite ex-Southerner that I am, I bought the book, of course. But from then on I would run, not walk, whenever I saw this person at another conference.

[Julie Lomoe]

Hi Liz - good topic. As you know, I was at Malice, and I admire your gifts for mingling and schmoozing. I didn't think you overdid it, and I still look forward to reading your book. As to whether others like it - who knows? It's most important that they buy it. I think overpromotion can backfire - I recently met an author who was handing out fancy little booklets containing a first chapter. When I got home, I eagerly read it, and instantly decided that I didn't like the writing and would never buy the book. Had I not read the preview, I probably would have bought it.

At Malice, some people were more blatant than others about promoting their books, but I didn't find any of them obnoxious or annoying; rather, I thought they helped make the atmosphere convivial and upbeat. As for me, I wore my Mood Swing tee shirts and handed out a fair number of postcards, but didn't pitch my book except in the assigned time slots. I'm an introvert on the Myers-Briggs, and that probably works against me at these shindigs. But that's a topic for another forum - I think I'll start one now!