Fringe Fiction Unlimited discussion
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Authors need word-of-mouth and I have a big one
As a self-published author (well, hybrid, technically), any promotion is good promotion.
I'm self-published and I'd love an opportunity to get my books in front of more people.
A lot of the books I read I only found because I saw them featured on various blogs, so I'm all for the blog idea.
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Also - no offense- my thoughts are less whether authors will appreciate the chance but whether readers will utilize the blog. Word-of-mouth doesn't work if nobody's listening and I know some authors are all about talking at their own prospective readers without endorsing/supporting other authors.
That's not me throwing stones - especially in this group because everyone is supportive here - but I'm hoping there will actually be readers following this otherwise it defeats its own purpose.
Any thoughts on drawing a crowd of potential readers to keep it worthwhile for them?
Hate to say it, but what usually draws readers to a particular blog initially is Giveaways. Some of the most popular book blogs have at least one Giveaway a week.
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Sarah, I wish authors would band together and try to reinforce one another's fanbases by sharing readers and promoting each other's writing actively. I know authors do recommend and endorse books but if we took a more "social networky" approach without always wondering "What's in it for me?" a lot of obscure authors would be on the radar of more readers instead of under it.
I'm not for the "every man for him/herself" when "safety and strength in numbers" could get such a greater response from and for people.
I'm intrigued by the idea. How often would you be posting? Once a week? As a recently published indie, I'm working on gaining visibility and I know how hard it is. I don't have many followers yet outside of friends and family, but if you created a blog of such, I would share it on my other social media author pages to get the word out about other authors too.
I do reviews on my blog and also do book spotlights. But a lot of my followers are other authors or bloggers I've found on Goodreads. So my question for a blog like this is, would anyone read it besides other authors?It's great if we support each other. I'm always happy to spotlight books. And authors do read, of course, so we support other indies that way. But besides the small circle of indies supporting other indies, how many people will follow a blog like this?
As a reader I like when an author does Q&A or a blog takeover especially with authors that are new to me. I can ask questions about their work. I love when I can interact with authors. A book spotlight is good. And as C.G. stated you might have to look into giveaways. Some of the most popular blogs always have giveaways going on.
I think it's a great idea, and I'm totally with you on authors supporting each other. As to what readers will be attracted to...I really don't know.
It would be an interesting experiment. Maybe if every book spotlighted also had a giveaway.
yeah a book giveaway, or a giftcard, or swag (keychains, t shirts, bookmarks, etc etc)
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Shari - you make a great point about author interviews. Def a goal of mine once I get my footing.
I've already started this up - Libra Obscura - but it'll be a few days before I'm going live with it so feedback and thoughts are still welcomed here :)
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Plus it could be random exposure, opportunities to guest blog, social networking and other wonderful things ^^
Courtney wrote: "Re: Q&A - I'm going to have to mine the thoughts of authors in this group for segments on stuff like "What will the new trend in YA?" or "What does it say about escapism that dystopia/post apocalyp..."These are all the features a good book/ review blog has, so you're definitely on the right track
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When I first started asking for reviews, a few bloggers asked if I'd be interested in spotlights or interviews since their waiting lists for reviews were huge. I thought it was very nice of them to offer and was excited to participate. I am also always willing to donate ecopies of my book to giveaways and those tend to go well. I think if you could get the right audience it could be a very helpful resource.
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I'm all for it, authors supporting authors, readers getting in touch with authors. Hell starting next week I was thinking of doing featured on my facebook of indie-authors i've read. So I'm all for it
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Kinda reminds me of the view. In a good way lol
Courtney wrote: "Cool! I'm probably going to start a topic in the next day or so asking if authors here are up for a Q&A about more general topics and, naturally, have their books recommended. Like I ask four aut..."That sounds entertaining. You might do some big promo for the opening to get new followers at the start (make sure they have to follow to be entered in the drawings, etc). That way, you'll start out with an audience when you want to do other stuff.
For me as a reader, it really depends on the genres. If you never talk about anything I'm interested in I won't follow. I'd say pay a lot of attention to your tags.
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Great. Now the Game of Thrones theme is playing in my head, like I'm trying to get the North to march or rally together lol
Courtney wrote: "I'd like to post a couple times a week once I get a format down for recommending books I haven't read, add reviews as they apply and other posts pertaining to the general vibe of the blog. Shari ..."
Great title for your blog
Courtney wrote: "Ideally I'll recommend just about anything if an author wants it on the blog so hopefully people will be from all walks."Would there be any quality control?
Hi there,I saw this thread and I want to pipe in a little bit in case it's helpful, as I'm currently taking a course in blogging (yes, these things do exist). Generally it can be tricky to get a big audience for a blog about fiction, because the vast majority of really popular blogs are about things that make people's lives easier or better, i.e., gadgets, social media, personal finance, self-improvement, freelancing, etc.
To get a big audience, you would need to find some popular blogs to post on that would drive traffic to your own blog.
I think this idea sounds fantastic though, Courtney, and I think that your motivation is admirable. I've learned a couple of tricks to finding popular blogs that take guest posts, so let me know if you want me to find some.
Amy
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M.D. - Thank you!
Virginia - If I review any book then I can vouch for it otherwise I'm not endorsing books so much as letting people know they exist. The synopsis and whatever reviews are available will have to guide people's decisions but it'll be for their consideration and I'll stipulate that it being posted isn't a guarantee it's amazing but just alerting them to potential reads available.
There's a lot of blogs about individual opinions on books so I'm hoping this will be different and give opprotunities on both ends rather than the same books with buzz being the focus. After a thousand or so reviews it becomes redundant so this might be a chance to let the book speal for itself on a grassroots level.
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This is a great idea, Courtney! I'd be happy to help contribute :)
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I think this is an exciting idea Courtney. I also liked what you had to say about indie authors grouping together and supporting one another's work. I have a fellow indie author who has been a dear friend and mentor and we genuinely enjoy each other's work and often give each other ratings and feedback. I'd love to use this group as a platform to meet other like-minded authors who tastes or writing styles are similar to my own and build on those relationships :0)
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Courtney, first of all, can I just say that I think you're terrific? You have great ideas and ask really good questions.
I think blogs and giveaways might be a good idea, especially if others say they get their book choices from them. I'm going to admit that I don't. Maybe it's because I'm lazy and adventurous at the same time. I don't want online reading time to cut into my actual reading time, so adding another site to check wouldn't help me much. I hate it when authors don't sync their offline blogs completely with their GR blogs. I follow several writers' blogs here on GR and am open to more, but if they give me a teaser paragraph here and then a link to their offsite one for the rest, I'm annoyed and go on to someone else.
Giveaways don't appeal to me either, nor do ads. I'd rather browse through the To Read list of friends and strangers and see if anything appeals to me. But I'm probably in the minority here. I have a soft spot for the under-appreciated, so if I read a nice book blurb by an author that doesn't seem to have many ratings or reviews, I'll strongly consider reading it. Whether I buy it or not depends on whether they have a free sample available to download to make sure I'll like it first. I'm an open-option epub reader so if they offer a digital version that's Kindle only, I pass it up on principle.
And because this is a social media site, and the question is about word of mouth, I have my own thoughts on how that could be interpreted. Indie writers have to be their word of mouth starter, and I understand that. If they're like Courtney and are talking about intriguing ideas, or are encouraging others, or asking good questions, I'm very interested in them and any books they might have. But if authors' blogs, quotes, and postings are all about their own stuff, I tend to see the whole thing as some desperate sales pitch and move on to someone who seems to have a better sense of give and take in the world.
That might not be word of mouth as it's normally thought of, but it is to me. It's how the author speaks to us in a social media sense: if it's all one-way from them to the world when it could be inter-active, I give them a pass and find someone who seems able to look at things from the point of view of others. Word of mouth implies some listening.
I think blogs and giveaways might be a good idea, especially if others say they get their book choices from them. I'm going to admit that I don't. Maybe it's because I'm lazy and adventurous at the same time. I don't want online reading time to cut into my actual reading time, so adding another site to check wouldn't help me much. I hate it when authors don't sync their offline blogs completely with their GR blogs. I follow several writers' blogs here on GR and am open to more, but if they give me a teaser paragraph here and then a link to their offsite one for the rest, I'm annoyed and go on to someone else.
Giveaways don't appeal to me either, nor do ads. I'd rather browse through the To Read list of friends and strangers and see if anything appeals to me. But I'm probably in the minority here. I have a soft spot for the under-appreciated, so if I read a nice book blurb by an author that doesn't seem to have many ratings or reviews, I'll strongly consider reading it. Whether I buy it or not depends on whether they have a free sample available to download to make sure I'll like it first. I'm an open-option epub reader so if they offer a digital version that's Kindle only, I pass it up on principle.
And because this is a social media site, and the question is about word of mouth, I have my own thoughts on how that could be interpreted. Indie writers have to be their word of mouth starter, and I understand that. If they're like Courtney and are talking about intriguing ideas, or are encouraging others, or asking good questions, I'm very interested in them and any books they might have. But if authors' blogs, quotes, and postings are all about their own stuff, I tend to see the whole thing as some desperate sales pitch and move on to someone who seems to have a better sense of give and take in the world.
That might not be word of mouth as it's normally thought of, but it is to me. It's how the author speaks to us in a social media sense: if it's all one-way from them to the world when it could be inter-active, I give them a pass and find someone who seems able to look at things from the point of view of others. Word of mouth implies some listening.
Fairie wrote: But if authors' blogs, quotes, and postings are all about their own stuff, I tend to see the whole thing as some desperate sales pitch and move on to someone who seems to have a better sense of give and take in the world.I really love it here! Before I discovered this wonderful place, I was struggling in the world of Twitter. That place started to make me lose my faith in humanity. There's so much self-promotion, and so little listening. I thought, wouldn't it be great if people promoted each other instead of themselves so much. And not as a trade, but because they read and liked something, and wanted to share.
Then I came here and found my little fantasy world already existed.
Sometimes I think if my new novel is a failure, it won't have been for nothing, because it led me here.
I love this place as a writer, but also as a reader.
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@ Dina - I'm thrilled you're liking this group! People here are so engaging and active. My hope is we'll evolve past a social group into a community of authors who find ways to spread good old fashioned word of mouth on stories while meetings like-minds, kindred spirits or other such support and camaraderie ^^
Word of mouth isn't dead. I belong to an in-the-flesh off-line book club. We give recommendations by word of mouth, and pass on those that we've heard. A group of fellow professors, all of us procrastinating grading papers, sat around talking about books we loved. I overheard several of my yoga students talking about books as they packed up their mats after a class. I think about how we all do advertise what we love whenever someone asks about my five-fingers barefoot running shoes. I am a walking--uh, running--happy endorsement, unpaid and sincere, for this product. After I reviewed the off-beat comic novel The Scottish Movie for The Source on Goodreads, I must have told ten people about in person as well as reviewing it online. I wonder if I listen more to the word of the live mouth next to me than the word od the electronic mouth. Anyone else have a thought on that?
Dina wrote: "Fairie wrote: But if authors' blogs, quotes, and postings are all about their own stuff, I tend to see the whole thing as some desperate sales pitch and move on to someone who seems to have a bette..."Someone else is not crazy about Twitter! I was beginning to feel like a Luddite. Phew. I get the urge to tweet "Twitter Quitter Tweets Defeat." Actually I unfollow anyone who is boring or tweets fifty times a day. It's an unnatural medium for me, for sure.
Amber wrote: Someone else is not crazy about Twitter! I was beginning to feel like a Luddite. Phew. I get the urge to tweet "Twitter Quitter Tweets Defeat." I love that! What would be so funny is if a bunch of people went on and Tweeted that. Although hardly anyone would notice, because they'd too busy self-promoting.
There are some good folks on there. I wish they'd come here...well, the readers/writers at least.
I couldn't agree more with authors needing to support authors. Since the first day of my blog I've offered a guest page, as well as reviews, on my blog. I am all about supporting fellow authors. Heck, I've even been known to offer free editing and beta reading. I was dragged kicking and screaming onto twitter, but it's kind of grown on me ... either that, or I just got so overwhelmed I gave up the struggle - lols. All things internet have been a huge challenge for me.
@ Courtney: I love this thread, and I love your ideas.
Thanks so much. Word of mouth is NOT dead. Even though it feels like it much of the time :)
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I'm glad other people are positive about word of mouth also :)
Courtney wrote: "So - as authors - you're not worried about whether a blog reviews but would appreciate people being directed towards your book and let that speak for itself? Also - no offense- my thoughts are l..."
What would draw readers to a blog? It depends what kind of readers. You need a target audience. Readers are a diverse group. I follow blogs that discuss the intersection between literature and a kind of non-religious spirituality, with reviews, interviews, and the bloggers' insights. I also follow a thoughtful review blog that takes mystery writing seriously. Are you looking for readers with diverse tastes? Your title may need to attract that group.
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And who speak Latin.(I think. I haven't had any Latin exposure since high school.) I like it. It's definitely not mass pop culture oriented.
I'm a newbie to this group, but just have to chime in. I love this idea, Courtney, and will gladly link to your blog and promote it regularly on my FB page. Please let me know when it's live; I'd like to contribute how/where I can.Thanks!
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Monica I so appreciate that! Tragically my app makes my linking abilities nonexistent atm but it's listed under the blogs section >. <
No worries. I'll see what I can do. :)
Upon reading that I promptly went insane at the thought, regrouped and swore I would learn necromancy before I let that happen. Hell, I formed this group because I want overlooked books to get - at least - 15 minutes in the limelight.
I'm not disagreeing with Mark and feel he makes a point as well as those who posted replies about how hard it is for authors to get attention and write something people will talk about. Self-published and small press do fight to get noticed and I want to get in their corner.
I'm going to finally start a blog that won't be primarily about my personal reviews for books or other ponderances. Less a soapbox, more a pedestal where authors on the fringes of publishing searching for readers can have someone say "Just read the synopsis and give them a chance to impress you". Something like putting a book under people's noses rather than shoving it in their face.
It would be an opportunity for exposure, no guarantee, but I wanted to see what you all would think of a blog that gives out recommendations to books that might go unmentioned otherwise?