Tooting Your Own Horn
If you know me very well, you know that I'm not a big fan of self-promotion. Oh, I know, if you follow me on Twitter, or we're friends on Facebook, you may think differently. I do Tweet and post on a regular basis when I release a new book, run a free promo on Amazon, or reach a milestone (i.e., X reviews or X copies downloaded). I say two things to those of you who don't believe I hate self-promotion.
First, as an independent author (a.k.a. indie, one who publishes without benefit of an agent or publishing company), a certain amount of self-promo is necessary. I am my own advertiser, my own marketing department. I don't (at this point, anyway) pay for ads on anyone's blog or page. I have no agent negotiating deals for me or persuading anyone to help me out. I have no big publisher backing me. It's all me. So as much as I enjoy my independence as a writer, alas, it does require a certain amount of self-promotion.
Second, the faceless quality of Twitter and Facebook allow me to do a little self-promoting without having to see any of you roll your eyes as you think, "Great, here she goes again." Because I'm sure some of you do.
Self-promotion for sales purposes aside, I have a question. This is primarily aimed at artists. Writers, singers, songwriters, painters, etc.
If given the opportunity to review or rate your own work, do you do so?
For example, if I mark one of my own books as "READ" here on Goodreads, the little "Rate this book" box pops up. From Amazon, I recently received an email asking me, "How would you rate You Were Always There?" Yes, that would be a novella by yours truly. (At one time, authors weren't allowed to review their own books on Amazon--at least not under their own name. I believe this has changed now.)
I have always just closed that little dialogue box. I delete emails from Amazon asking me to review my own books. So I'm curious to know if you do the same. Or do you review your work? If you do, do you rate it as high as you can and give yourself a rave review? I know at least one author who does this, and I have to admit, it doesn't sit well with me.
So artists, what's your take on this question? And readers, what about you? Suppose you're reading the reviews for Not His Type, and you spot a glowing, 5-star review penned by HappyHeart1993. I think most of you would recognize that's my email, my Twitter handle--shoot, it's even on my car's license plate! So what would you think?
Do you toot your own horn?
First, as an independent author (a.k.a. indie, one who publishes without benefit of an agent or publishing company), a certain amount of self-promo is necessary. I am my own advertiser, my own marketing department. I don't (at this point, anyway) pay for ads on anyone's blog or page. I have no agent negotiating deals for me or persuading anyone to help me out. I have no big publisher backing me. It's all me. So as much as I enjoy my independence as a writer, alas, it does require a certain amount of self-promotion.
Second, the faceless quality of Twitter and Facebook allow me to do a little self-promoting without having to see any of you roll your eyes as you think, "Great, here she goes again." Because I'm sure some of you do.
Self-promotion for sales purposes aside, I have a question. This is primarily aimed at artists. Writers, singers, songwriters, painters, etc.
If given the opportunity to review or rate your own work, do you do so?
For example, if I mark one of my own books as "READ" here on Goodreads, the little "Rate this book" box pops up. From Amazon, I recently received an email asking me, "How would you rate You Were Always There?" Yes, that would be a novella by yours truly. (At one time, authors weren't allowed to review their own books on Amazon--at least not under their own name. I believe this has changed now.)
I have always just closed that little dialogue box. I delete emails from Amazon asking me to review my own books. So I'm curious to know if you do the same. Or do you review your work? If you do, do you rate it as high as you can and give yourself a rave review? I know at least one author who does this, and I have to admit, it doesn't sit well with me.
So artists, what's your take on this question? And readers, what about you? Suppose you're reading the reviews for Not His Type, and you spot a glowing, 5-star review penned by HappyHeart1993. I think most of you would recognize that's my email, my Twitter handle--shoot, it's even on my car's license plate! So what would you think?
Do you toot your own horn?
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message 1:
by
Terri
(new)
Mar 25, 2014 08:25AM
This is a tough call, Lisa. As someone who sings and plays flute, I'm not certain I would have felt comfortable rating myself on a performance, unless I had a college professor TELLING me my self evaluation was part of my semester grade. For Amazon, where you must write something, I would either pass, or state I was the writer, then list constructive pros AND cons about how I felt about the book. Through Goodreads, I would probably only place a rating, if at all, and then, I would probably go with the average rating already given. Anytime I see that an author has rated themselves 5 stars, I think they are a bit arrogant. Just my opinion. Hey, I always say...If in doubt, don't.
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Terri wrote: "This is a tough call, Lisa. As someone who sings and plays flute, I'm not certain I would have felt comfortable rating myself on a performance, unless I had a college professor TELLING me my self e..."Trust me, I don't, lol. I was just curious.
