I wish I knew where the term “shameless self promotion” first came from. I think I know why it caught on. One of the big never-ending topics for writers is how to promote your work, how to toot your own horn. At the same time, most of us live in a culture that values modesty and humility. How many of us automatically respond to compliments with something along the lines of, “Oh, it’s nothing, really.” (Hard-core costumers have a really hard time with this. You tell them how great their costume is, and they’ll start showing you the uneven seams and the shortcuts they took on them hem, mistakes no one would notice if they didn’t insist on pointing them out.) Some of us are overcoming a lot of social conditioning to be able to hold up our books and say, “Hey! Look here! Look what I did!” So we put the “shameless” in front “self promotion” to acknowledge that discomfort.
The easy way to get around that discomfort is to realize that a lot of self promotion is really just dispensing information. Pretty much the first question anyone asks when they find out you’re a writer is, “What do you write?” I’ve made up business cards with my name, website, and cover of one of my books printed on them to hand out. Most people are grateful to get one of these little reminders — it tells them exactly what they want to know and they don’t have to write anything down. But I’ll confess, I’ve been doing this for four years and it still feels weird giving out the cards and saying, “Yes, that’s me, look what I did!”
Lots of our readers don’t live on the internet, aren’t keyed into the book world, haven’t memorized the release date of our next books, and are only likely to think of it when the information is placed in front of them. They’re happy to get the reminders, the websites, the blog posts, and so on. There’s nothing shameless about providing that information — especially because you can’t count on anyone else doing it for you.
It’s possible to take the promotion thing too far. If all you talk about is your books, if all you blog about is your next book, if you judge all of your online or even real-world relationships by how they’ll help you sell books, you may have a problem. I go to a lot of science fiction conventions, where there’s a huge backlash right now against the “tower of books.” This is what happens when an author is on a panel and piles up copies of all their books and cover flats at the front of the table, so all the audience can see is their books. Often, this writer will also spend all their time on the panel discussing his or her own work. Authors who do this have forgotten that the primary purpose of the panel discussion is not, in fact, to allow them to pimp their work. People go to the panel to be entertained and informed, and the panelist’s job is to entertain and inform them. If the audience likes your contribution to the discussion, chances are they’ll check out your books. Panel discussions are a great way to connect with potential readers, and I encourage authors to participate in them. But if all you can do is talk about you, you’ll likely piss off the audience and they’ll avoid you.
I watch what other writers do, how other writers promote themselves, to help me decide what to do about promoting my own books. If they do something I like, I remember that. If they do something I don’t like, I remember that, too. I pay attention to what works on me as a reader. For example, in all my years of going to conventions, bookstores, events, etc, I’ve only ever bought the book advertised on a bookmark I picked up once. And it wasn’t because of the bookmark, it was because I went to the author’s reading and really liked what I heard. The bookmark was just to remind me that I wanted to try this book. So, I haven’t ever handed out bookmarks, which is almost heretical. Everybody does bookmarks. But I have limited funds and resources, and I decided to do other things with them. I hand out flyers and business cards, because I make them myself and can adapt them to any book or event without a huge outlay.
I have something else to say about shameless self promotion: there’s a reason I’m writing about this topic this week. Two of them, actually.
My latest book, Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand, was officially released yesterday. There, how was that for subtly dispensing information?
And it’s my birthday today. I just had to say it, shamelessly. 
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Happy Birthday Carrie! I’m in eastern Canada and my bookseller won’t sell me a copy of Kitty and the Dead Man’s hand until Sunday. I tried to “persuade” her with coffee and an apple fritter but no luck.
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Carrie – Happy birthday! I hope it’s a fun one, especially with Kitty & the Dead Man’s Hand out… =)
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Happy birthday, Carrie!
And I love this topic as done by S. L. Viehl here, I wonder if she’ll comment… the free reads are great not just for fans but then I can give my friends the link and be like, “Read this you’ll love it and it’s FREE” and they always check it out and then, ta-da, instant new reader.
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S. L. Viehl, I’m going to be doing the free read thing on my site (as soon as I figure out how to add another tab).
I’m hoping that, between shamelessly whoring Cliodhna, word of mouth, and the bookstore in Savannah being big fans of local writers, I might just manage to sell a book.
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Happy Birthday! According to the tracking info, I should get my copy of Dead Man’s hand today! I can’t wait to read about Kitty’s latest adventures.
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Happy Birthday, Carrie!
I’m heading to the bookstore right now for Dead Man’s Hand. Since it’s my day off, I plan to do nothign but read and I always enjoy your Kitty books!!
As for shameless self-promotion…I don’t generally have a problem with it. *blush* I’m pretty outgoing, and love talking about my books. However, I do sometimes see myself falling into the trap of talking about nothing but my books on my own blog sometimes, and I cringe…not sure why, but I hate to see blogs that are nothing but promotion.
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I came from one of those reserved midwestern families, so this has all been new and different.
I spend a lot of my blog time talking about movies. I missed my calling as a reviewer, I think!
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Well Happy Birthday!!!!
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Thanks for the b-day wishes, everyone! **big grin**
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Well then, Carrie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. And because you shamelessly self-promoted, I’m going to go ahead and get a copy of your book
And while we’re on the topic of shameless self promotion: Everyone, please come check out my blog http://outinwritefield.blogspot.com.
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Happy Birthday, Carrie! I’m a Kitty fan girl, and I always anxiously await the new books.
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Happy Birthday, Carrie!
I have a question, though you don’t have to answer. But I’m curious what your thoughts are on the business card for those of us still waiting for that first contract. I know the ‘elevator pitch’ and all the other short bits, but what do you think of a card with your info and elevator pitch on it? And what do you do when you don’t have that contract and so, have no cover pic to put on the card?
Just thinking about marketing stuff…
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If you’re going to any kind of conference or convention where you might be meeting editors or other writers, business cards can be very useful. Even if you just put your email address and web/blog address on them. Other people you meet will want to you give you their cards and it will give you something to trade. Also, it’s a reminder that you exist when people are cleaning out their pockets at the end of the day. Every little bit helps.
I don’t know about putting your novel pitch on a card… Anyone else have an opinion? My instinct is to just have your contact info. But I never had the guts to try an elevator pitch, so I may not be thinking boldly enough.
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I haven’t had the opportunity to try an elevator pitch yet
Since I don’t have a book cover picture for the card, I’m thinking a ten or twelve word phrase about your book might be a good thing. It would be another reminder anyway. Then again, what do I know? I’m still working on all of this.
HEY! What about part of your website header as a picture on the card?
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Carrie, you’re wonderfully shameless. Happy birthday.
I’ve tried just about everything* in the self-promo universe at least once, and posting on the internet free original stories and novels related to one’s work in print has worked best for me. It’s also the easiest and most cost-effective form of self-promotion to distribute globally.
I’ve watched a lot of self-promoting authors over the years, and the ones who seem to do the best are those who have fun with it, don’t take it too seriously, and try something other than what the rest of the herd does. Creative, infrequent and release date-appropriate promo never bothers me at all; it’s those 24/7 hard sell self-promoters who can’t hold my interest.
I’ve always thought authors should do only the sort of promo that they’re comfortable with, and avoid what publishers, agents and other writers pressure you to do. You’re allowed to say “No, I’m not going to any more conferences” and “No, I’m not giving an interview to HatchetJobs.com” and they don’t dump you. If they did I certainly wouldn’t be here.
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*I’ve never done a podcast, radio or video interview, and I’ve never dressed up as a giant walking hot dog at BEA. Some things are better imagined than attempted.
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***I’ve never dressed up as a giant walking hot dog at BEA. ***
Do we want to know? Someone actually did that????
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Tor, I believe, inflicted this particular form of promotional cruelty. Here’s a photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/publishersmarketplace/17271095/
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O
M
G!!!!!!
Were I the author, I would have claimed I had no clue! Good gravy.
That’s just…wrong.
However, I must admit to LMAO at the picture!!
But still…
*shudders*
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Carrie! My husband was reading me your thread at Fark today, not knowing I was blogging with you! How fun is that! Happy Birthday!
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It’s a small internet, isn’t it?