Promo Woes

 Thanks, Skye, for another curly topic for our blog hop! This month is about promotion: love it or hate it.

I have never done much active promotion for my work. In the early days of my writing life (1970s and 80s) we were told pretty firmly that promo was our publishers' domain. In fact, some contracts forbade us from running off tooting our own horns. Did publishers do promo? Probably not a lot. I used to get a few interviews in the local paper, on radio and TV, but that was because I was a novelty: a young local. I was in my teens. You couldn't call me beautiful, but I was a fresh face. 

This little surge died out when it became obvious I was a stayer... what could the paper say about yet another new book by me? They quietly lost my phone number.

Once the internet age ushered in, I was already editing for other people and getting newsletters from writing groups. Some o/s members wrote about their promo tours. Some of these were self-funded and it struck me that they must be making a considerable loss. There were wonderful how-to articles about self-promo. I lost my faith in these when I read the bios saying X's agent is working very hard to get her published. I had already passed the 100 books mark. My value as a promotion subject was approximately nil.

The internet groups and chats and rooms and clubs offered a chance to talk to other writers and to connect with readers--in theory. In practice, anyone doing more than mentioning her/his own book(s) in passing was squashed from a very tall height. There were books and authors members wanted to discuss, but these did not include me. I understand hit-and-run promos are bad manners, so I always spent time commenting on other people's posts before mentioning my own stuff. Deafening silence was the usual response. "Moving on..."

I have made several attempts to offer safe spaces for my fellow writers to promote their work. One blog worked like this. Any writer was welcome to produce a promotion. There were just two rules. One was that the promotion had to be a new one. No simply recycling the same old stuff. I brought that rule in because there were writers on Twitter and FB who continually ran the same ads. The other rule was that anyone running a promo HAD to engage with at least one promo done by someone else. This could not be a simple thumbs up. It had to be a proper engagement... a question of sensible comment. 

I had lots of people running promos. Most of them stuck to the first rule. The second one? Not on your life. I engaged with all of them, but I couldn't get many of them to play ball. Some did, but it was a losing battle. 

I've run at least four promo blogs or sites and they've all crashed in the same way. Writers are starving for notice, but they won't or can't understand they need to give to get. Admittedly, it's been some years since I gave up and I'm sure there are writers out there who do review and comment on and sometimes even recommend books by their peers. 

My current effort is Book Review Offer and Swap which I run on Facebook. It has the same basic rule. Anyone may offer his or her book for review, but s/he MUST accept someone else's in return. That one is still working, because some of the members cooperate. The reviews are not only posted in the group, but can be posted elsewhere. 

Apart from all this, I have made business cards, worn tee-shirts advertising my books, put giant car magnets on the car doors, left leaflets in libraries... made book marks, printed cups... Any joy? Not a nibble. I have given up.

Now, I hope some of my colleagues here on the hop have had better experiences, so I recommend you go and read their takes on the subject.

Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com (Graham)

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/

Dr. Bob Rich  https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3Gp

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Sally Odgers https://behindsallysbooksmark2.blogspot.com (me)

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea 

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