When don't any of us by any other members books?

[Mark Tillmann]

I notice that though members 'launch' works, the support in terms of views is tiny - excluding the views by the authors themselves, there's scarcely another visit?

Are we scared? Do we know a bomb when we see it? I dunno - what do you folks think

[Benjamin Sobieck]

I remember those days. What changed? Was it because I quit drinking? Sorry.

[I. J. Parker]

We still argue.  And we've picked up some great new people.  Oh, and nice to see John D. here again.  I do recall some knock-down fights involving John.  :)

[Dana King]

Ben,

I think all that bluegrasse chilled you out.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

You should see what I've got planned for promo for the print version. It's not illegal to ship things through the mail that only look like dope, right?

[Dana King]

Hard to say. I haven't checked yet today.

[Mark Tillmann]

I merely asked a question based on observation. When I went to the Theakston's festival at Harrogate - books were sold in big numbers - often of reasonably obscure authors. That of course is paper books. The e-book world has released many writers from the thrall of the agent - not always a good thing some would argue but there have been 'e' successes.

[Stacy]

How can it be assumed that people here aren't buying other people's books? There are many members on Crimespace. You can't go by views. Views don't mean that people aren't necessarily buying other members' books.

I don't get on here but every once in a while. I am more active on the Suspense and Thriller group on FB. But even then I don't get on there but here and there. When I am on here I don't venture out of the discussion boards. I stopped going to the blogs because of all the spam like I.J. mentioned.

I am all for supporting other authors but when the blogs section turns into nothing but ads for books, it's a turnoff. Also, you need to communicate with the community here. Some people post about their books but never take part in any discussions, etc. That's incorrect social marketing. No matter what site you're on, you should not just be there to hock books. People buying your books is a bonus.

I don't know why others are specifically on Crimespace but I'm not here for selling books. I'm here because I can speak to other crime writers about industry stuff, the genre, etc. So I never thought of Crimespace as a place to hock my work.

We all have profile pages so if someone is interested in our work, they can read about it there.

 Once again, don't take my post the wrong way. I am not trying to be snarky. I just really don't see how it can be assumed that no one here is buying books of other members just by looking at views somewhere.

Also this is a site for WRITERS. Even though writers are readers we can't rely on other writers to buy our books. It's best to be on sites that focus on readers for that.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Benjamin Sobieck]

That's a good way of thinking of it. Book buying is the bonus. I like that.

[I. J. Parker]

Actually, we have quite a number of non-writers.  The whole "reading" section is for them, though we also post there.  And some of them (bless them!) engage in discussions.  I've always liked that a lot.

 

This whole promotion thing is pretty hateful anyway.  We don't like it.  Readers don't like it.  It gets done (sometimes) just so someone may see our name.

 

The real fun, as others have said, is being able to talk about what we do.

[Caroline Trippe]

As a reader, that's why I'm here---to talk about crime fiction with writers and other readers. What they think about the genre, why we read mysteries, how crime fiction has changed over the years, if it's literature or not, why it's important---all of that.

[I. J. Parker]

Was thinking of you, Caroline!  :)

[Caroline Trippe]

Thank you, Ingrid!  

And, as you know, I have read your books----which I discovered because of this forum. It's worth mentioning too that it was not because of any  "marketing"  efforts on your part, but because of your voice in the various discussions.  Somehow I knew you would be a very good writer, and one that I would want to read. And I was right. :)   

Incidentally, I would probably be interested in reading your blog.