A Little Overwhelming?

Have you ever met an author who plasters their book cover all over the internet and talks about their book on their websites and social networks? I know, just about every author does that and many of us very quickly get to the point of, "come on, talk about something else" or "enough already." I bet many of you are thinking - 'yep Brian, you are one of those authors.' I have to admit, it is unusual to have been on both sides of this coin.



As a reader I know exactly how you feel. You follow an author on their websites and social networks only to be overwhelmed by waves of information about their latest release. At times it can drive some away as authors give the impression that they are only in this for the marketing and promoting of their books and not to connect with others. I've seen this happen and I've heard of it happening. The question now becomes - why do authors do this?



Well, I can't speak for everyone but I can give you my thoughts on this situation. Of course all authors are proud of their novels when they are finally published and it should be understandable that authors would want to share that with everyone they've met while building their author platform. Yes, I can honestly say that some believe if you flood the market with your book title you stand a better chance of making higher sales. It is also a marketing rule that a product needs to be presented to a possible customer at least three times. Do I believe flooding the market is a good idea? No I don't. I do believe in the saying, "out of sight out of mind" so I also think it is important to keep any book cover out in public view.



With that said, why did (and still do) keep on about my book? Why do I plaster the cover and updates and events all over the Internet? There are a number of reasons. The most obvious is that I want to share it with everyone. I want everyone to know about the events so they can take part and I wish to entertain readers with my stories. To accomplish that the book must be front and center for everyone to see. However, there is a hidden reason, one that has surprised me.



We, as writers, work hard to establish an author platform and build connections through the many avenues available to us. Over time we accomplish this while writing. Then the day comes when we find a publisher and we continue building the platform. Here is the twist, before our books are published we sign up on social networks as writers or readers which is great but after our books are published we have to make changes to incorporate the release of our book. Sometimes we can simply change our bio or a tagline but if we want to change our name or maybe setup an account for a character that is a little more challenging because at times it is the same as starting over. Goodreads is a great example of this. We start as readers but there is a separate author's section where you get author accounts. You can only get that after your book is released.



It is very challenging to walk the tightrope between just enough promotion and too much. This is especially true soon after your debut novel is released because you're pretty much setting the foundation right then and there. In my opinion, this is what makes marketing and promoting so tough. At least in the beginning.



Where do you think the line is between to much promoting and just enough?