Aggression, greed, and paranoia do not enhance your author brand.
by Anne R. Allen
Recently there’s been a bizarre drama going on in the book world. It’s been given the name #cockygate, because it involves a cocky author who managed to trademark the word “cocky” in a deluded attempt to eliminate the “competition” and “protect” her author brand.
She ended up doing the opposite.
She alienated the entire publishing community by asking Amazon to delete the books of other romance authors who had used the word “cocky” in their titles or keywords–even if they’d published their titles long before she wrote hers. Victims also got threatening letters claiming Ms. Cocky had the rights to all their royalties, which she said she’d confiscate if they didn’t go through the huge expense of changing their titles, copyrights, covers, backmatter, metadata, publicity, etc.
Many authors actually went through the process, in spite of the expense, because hiring a lawyer would have cost even more.
If you’ve somehow managed to stay innocent of this creepiness, there’s great coverage from Jami Gold on her blog, with links to other important posts on the subject.
Most of this happened because of the author’s ignorance. Ms. Cocky didn’t know that:
- Your title is not your brand. Your NAME is your brand. It’s in your own interest not to associate that name with cruel, ignorant behavior or weaponized self-pity.
- Your fellow authors are your colleagues, not “the competition.” Readers in a genre will read many authors in that genre. When authors work together on promotions, anthologies and readings, they increase sales for everybody.
You Can’t Copyright a Title.
What seems to have sparked the brouhaha was Ms. Cocky’s discovery that you can’t copyright a title. She was furious that another author had a title similar to hers. So instead she trademarked a word in her series title.
But similar titles simply aren’t a problem for people familiar with the book world. We know that often dozens of books share the same title. Readers generally don’t confuse them, because cover art, author’s name, and other factors identify the book.
There are at least 16 books in print with the title The Best Revenge. All but two came out after mine debuted in 2003. One launched last month. But I’m not worried people will confuse them. Mine is “chick lit noir”. The others are obviously not.
Greed, Bullying, and Clueless Paranoia Hurt Your Author Brand
In her ignorance, the “cocky” author managed to make herself most hated person in the book world. She has the entire writing community furious and frightened.
That’s because if she gets away with her shenanigans, nothing can keep another author from trademarking the word “love” or “mystery” or “sex” and destroying the careers of hundreds of thousands of authors.
Luckily, some savvy lawyers and the Romance Writers of America are fighting back. (RWA has already stopped the Amazon take-downs until litigation is resolved.)
One of the posts about Ms. Cocky used the phrase “black hat author.” It’s a useful term, bringing to mind the “black hat hackers” who use their skills for criminal purposes.
Authors need to be aware that aggressive, “badass” behavior can actually tank their book sales rather than protect them.
A book is a journey, not a widget. You may be willing to buy a widget from a mean-spirited, selfish person, but you don’t want to go on a journey with them. That’s why authors need to brand themselves as good guys.
Kristen Lamb wrote a great piece on how bad behavior can destroy an author brand.
You don’t have to steal the livelihoods of hundreds of your colleagues to to destroy your own brand. There are lots of small but obnoxious things new writers can do because of fear, ignorance or bad marketing advice–and those things can have the same destructive effect.
Aggression, greed, and misguided paranoia can tank any author brand. Here are some faux pas you want to avoid.
1) Clueless Fears that Other Writers Will “Steal Your Ideas.”
The “cocky” writer felt she was entitled to destroy the careers of other romance writers because she believed people were “stealing” her ideas and characters as well as her titles.
Apparently it never occurred to her that anybody in the last 500 years might have thought of the naughty double entendre implied in the word, “cocky.”
This may simply have come from naivete. A lovely post from Cassie Sharp makes the argument that if Ms. Cocky had belonged to an author community and networked with other authors, she wouldn’t have made such a reckless (and clueless) move.
Here’s what she didn’t know:
Many newbie writers think their ideas are unique, because the ideas are new to them. But those writers need to read more. The more we read, the more we discover there are no new ideas. Only new ways of telling them.
Even if another writer tells a similar story in a similar way to yours, there’s no problem. It’s actually good news. You’re part of a trend! You could even team up with the other author and do some joint marketing.
But what if the “idea thief” is famous and not interested in joint marketing?
Congratulations! You get a free coattail ride.
Say you’ve got a story about a little girl with a pet cockatiel who’s actually an alien from Betelgeuse Then you discover–just before you launch–that a Famous Writer has just come out with a book about a little boy with a pet parrot who’s actually an alien from Alpha Centauri.
Don’t panic. Famous Person has given you some free marketing. Your book is now part of a growing trend of Alien Aviary Lit.
And if you’re going the trad. pub. route, that similar book is gold for your query letter: “If you liked “Polly Wants a Space Ship” you’ll love “Birdy Wants to Phone Home.”
2) Paranoid Threats to Readers Who Want to Share Your Blog Posts.
A discreet copyright symbol © on your blog can serve as a reminder that your work is copyrighted. But it’s not necessary. Your content is copyrighted as soon as you hit “publish.”
But a big, bolded announcement that your blog content is copyrighted, accompanied by threats and other pronouncements that nobody can quote a word of your deathless prose on penalty of prosecution is moronic.
It keeps anybody from sharing your material or reblogging it.
You’ve just doomed your blog to obscurity.
Successful bloggers want our material to be shared. The rule is that not more than 10% of the post (with a backlink) should be shared on another blog without permission, but even if the sharer goes over that percentage, as long as they credit you and link back to your blog, you should be grateful.
Those “backlinks” are what put you on Google’s radar.
Which is how you get discovered. Your paranoia will not only drive away readers, it also repels Google.
Search Engines will ignore this kind of black hat author.
3) Demanding Hoop-Jumping for Readers to Contact You.
This little paranoid trick can derail your career before it starts.
When I tried to unsubscribe to an unsolicited newsletter recently, I ran into the most insane method of ruining your author brand yet. Not only was there no unsubscribe function on the “newsletter”, but when I tried to contact the author, I got this message:
To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand.
If you would like to be added to my list of approved senders, please fill out the short request form (see link below). Once I approve you, I will receive your original message in my inbox. You do not need to resend your message. I apologize for this one-time inconvenience.
Click the link below to fill out the request:
The spammer thinks its fine for her to spam others, but heaven forfend she should have to endure an email from anybody who hasn’t kissed her ring.
I’ve seen agents complain about these messages, but I’d never seen one on the hoof.
Apparently this really happens: somebody queries an agent—who loves the query and replies to ask for a partial. Then the author blocks the response with a demand the agent jump through hoops. How many agents are going to submit to that kind of amateurish bullying?
That would be a big, fat zero.
Forget EVER getting representation. Or readers. Most humans don’t like working with difficult people who think they’re superior to everybody else.
If you still harbor the fantasy that you can have any kind of privacy on the Internet, set up a separate address for your writing business. You should keep your social and business emails separate anyway. But yes, that means you need to do the work, not your readers.
4) Spamming Strangers with Unwanted Email.
It’s not just annoying. It’s against the law. In the US and as of May 25th, in the EU.
Don’t put somebody on a mailing list without their consent. Sending a newsletter or any kind of advertising to somebody who has not subscribed is against the CAN SPAM act in the US, CASL in Canada, and the new GDPR law in the EU. The fines are huge. Barb Drozdowich explains the new GDPR law in a helpful post at Bakerview Consulting.
Yes, I know authors are constantly told that sending newsletters—the more the better—will magically sell books. Money will come pouring in if you just spam, spam, spam.
Not true.
Newsletters only work if the recipient wants to read them. Because they subscribed. Not because they:
- Are on a list of influential bloggers.
- Left a comment on your blog.
- Friended you on Facebook.
- Followed you on Twitter.
- Responded to an email where you asked for help.
- Let you use a blogpost in their newsletter.
- Accepted a “free” book without being told the payment was accepting your newsletter.
Remember all promotional mailings require an unsubscribe function. Because…HUGE FINES!
And if your newsletter is all about you and demands that people write reviews or vote for you in an obscure contest—they will unsubscribe even if they once wanted your newsletter.
Spamming is wearing a black hat. When you do it, you are literally a criminal.
5) Spammy Direct Messages, Especially in Response to a Follow
A Direct Message is intimate. Don’t use one unless you have a prior relationship with the recipient.
And that includes the dreaded unsolicited advertisement DM’d in response to a follow. Somebody follows you, you politely follow them back, and you get an automated DM “thanking” you…and advertising their product or services. Or making demands that you “like” their FB page or follow them on Instagram.
Many people hate this so much they use precious space in their profile to say “NO DMs!”
So don’t send them.
Besides, it’s never a good idea to “like” some stranger on Facebook. Think about what we know about FB and privacy. When you “friend” or “like” somebody on social media, that goes into your profile as something you’re into. Do you even know what this person writes or sells?
What if they write Bigfoot erotica? You “like” their author page. Now you have proclaimed to the world that you’re into Bigfoot erotica. Not so good for your author brand if you write MG fiction. or sweet romance.
Don’t “friend” strangers just because they demand it. And never send auto-DMs. That’s black hat marketing.
And please, please, please, if you want to make a comment about a blogpost, make it ON THE BLOG. Or if you must, in an @message. And please read the blogpost first. Don’t rant about what you think might be in it based on the title.
Last night my evening was hijacked by an unhinged writer who sent me 25 Direct Messages complaining about a blogpost she hadn’t bothered to read. She accused me of saying lots of things I didn’t say. For no reason I could see except she was in a rotten mood and wanted a handy punching bag.
Guess who is never going to sell me her book or get a guest post on this blog?
Don’t do this. You’re not on social media to make enemies. If you want to wear a black hat, log off the Internet.
6) Whiney Demands that Fellow Authors Give You Reviews
Nobody owes you a review. Especially your fellow authors. Yes, we know you’d like to have more reviews. We all would. And Amazon is making it very tough to get them.
Stop taking reviews so seriously. I had a runaway bestseller that only had 14 reviews at the time.
But I get emails from perfect strangers–people who’ve never even read this blog–who ask me to buy and review their books “because I need to get 50 reviews on Amazon.” (Not true, by the way. Recent, verified reviews get you higher visibility, but sheer numbers aren’t required.)
And going onto writing forums or FB groups begging for reviews is not going to do anything but alienate your fellow authors.
This is like a person on a sinking ship whining to her fellow passengers that she’s getting wet. We’re all in the same boat here.
And asking a fellow author to trade reviews? That can end your career. Last month I wrote about how Amazon is deleting accounts of people who are even suspected of trading reviews.
Book gone. Account deleted. Forever.
It’s not something to mess with. If the Zon thinks you’re wearing a black hat, you’re in big trouble.
7) Disrespecting Reviewers and Responding to Negative Reviews
I’m saying it again because it needs to be embroidered on a pillow or etched on a plaque hung over your computer. NOBODY OWES YOU A REVIEW. Even if they’ve accepted a free book. Maybe they hated it. You should be grateful they didn’t say so.
Reviewers are our friends. And right now book reviewers are under attack from all sides.
Yes, we have to contend with troll reviewers who devote their lives to leaving one-star reviews of books they haven’t read. (Check out our favorite Goodreads troll Annette: 3041 one-star ratings and climbing! 0 anything else.)
We also hate, hate, hate it when some reader puts spoilers in the review–those ones that say: “I was so surprised that they all turned out to be in on the murder, just like in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.”
It’s also annoying when they leave that review about Murder on the Orient Express on your sweet romance that has no deaths in the story but the sad demise of the hero’s pet gerbil.
But you must not respond to a negative review. That is probably the biggest no-no of all in the age of Amazon. It makes you look petty and vindictive–and smacks a black hat onto your head that can affect your author brand forever.
Book bloggers and thoughtful Amazon reviewers are a vanishing breed. Yes, sometimes they hate your book for all the wrong reasons and don’t “get it.” It happens to me a lot. I write pretty cerebral satire that sails above many heads.
But we have to rise above it. I recommend chocolate. 🙂 Here’s a post about better ways of responding to a negative review from The Write Life.
I’ve written a funny mystery about the disasters that ensue after author responds to a review. It’s called So Much for Buckingham. But the disasters aren’t so funny in real life.
8) Announcing that Your Unpublished Ms. is Copyrighted, Especially in a Query
One of the marks of a rank amateur is a query that announces that you have registered your unpublished manuscript with the Library of Congress.
Never do this. Once a book is published, your publisher copyrights it. If you self-publish, you can copyright the final copy. But that’s after it’s been edited and polished. Every time you edit you have to re-copyright. A big pain and entirely unnecessary.
Yes. Piracy is a big problem in the book marketplace these days.
But you know who won’t pirate your book? Agents. Reviewers. Editors. Beta Readers. These people do not want your unedited, unvetted book. They’ve probably got ten of their own. And they’re not going to “steal your ideas.” See #1 above.
We know you think your baby is the most precious thing ever, but it’s not worth anything to anybody until it’s polished and promoted.
The books that get pirated are edited, polished and published, usually with good sales records.
9) Using More Than 20% of Your Social Media Posts for Self-Promotion
Buymybookbuymybookbuymybook!
Did that make you want to run out and buy every book by Anne R. Allen?
No?
Other people feel the same way.
Do not fill up your social media feeds with ads. We need to say something more interesting some of the time. Make that 80% of the time.
On the other hand, we are on social media to sell our books, so don’t let people bully you out of your 20%.
Last month I accepted a “friend” on FB who proceeded to call me nasty names and pronounce me “pathetic and needy” because I announced a sale of The Gatsby Game. (Which several people thanked me for.) Out of 80 or so posts that month, I had one ad. (Mind you this was on my own page.)
At first this creep really freaked me out. I deleted the announcement for fear he’d report me to the FB police for spam. But then I did some investigating. Guess what this guy does for a living? He has an Internet marketing company! Not social media marketing. He sells old-school expensive ads to place on websites. Obviously he doesn’t like people using social media to advertise for free. He was trying to shame me into buying his services. The old “negging” tactic I mentioned a few weeks ago.
I posted my ad again, unfriended and blocked him.
20% of your feed can be ads and your hat won’t turn black. 🙂
10) Acting like a Diva
We have to remember that writing a book does not make us all that special. Yes, it’s a wonderful achievement. And damned hard work. But if you’re in an online writing community, you’re probably talking with people who have written ten books. Or fifty.
Don’t talk down to them from an imagined artistic perch.
This is why so many newsletters are such clunky failures. Authors hear they have to write an author newsletter, so they write as if they’re Anne Rice or Margaret Atwood (neither of whom have newsletters, BTW.) These authors think somebody who’s read one of our books will suddenly be fascinated with our writing process or last week’s trip to the dentist.
Trust me. They’re not. If they’re super fans, they want to know when your next book is coming out, but they really don’t care all that much about you personally. These days everybody has hundreds of FB friends who went to the dentist, too.
Offer something of value TO your readers, rather than asking for admiration FROM them.
That keeps your author brand (and your hat) shiny and clean.
What about you, scriveners? Has #cockygate got you worried? Did you suffer from writer paranoia when you were starting out? Has another author ever written a book with your title or plot? How did you react? Have you spammed because you thought you were supposed to?
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) May 20, 2018
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Hopefully Cockygate gets turned around. That was my first thought when I read about it – wow, she just alienated everyone who could help her.
Almost every DM I get on Twitter is to follow them elsewhere or check out their whatever they are selling.
Twenty percent can be self promotion? I need to step up my game. I’m probably closer to two percent!
Alex–I don’t use my 20% either. I need to get better at that. And DMs have been turned into toxic waste. Too bad. Every so often I get a real one from a blog reader or something. I’m always shocked it’s not an ad.
That poor Ms. Cocky. I don’t want to use her name for fear she’ll get a Google alert and send me some weaponized self-pity. Although I think she’s evaporated for a bit. She may have realized that making enemies of the entire industry wasn’t the best move.
Unfortunately she hasn’t. She is suing RWA and the lawyers who are involved in trying to stop her. She claims they are harassing her. Ironic giving they are using legal ways to stop her bullying. She’s the one who was harassing authors.
Stina–I’ve been following the insanity this weekend. Her lawyer is some creepy crazy guy whose website shows him in a coffin. He doesn’t even know how to write legalese. I hope he stays there. RWA is harassing HER? Right.
BTW, did you know that another author has tried to trademark the word “Forever” –with the help of her agent! And guess who the agent is? I think it’s one you had a run-in with. Initials MC. (I may have misremembered that. If you didn’t have a run in with an agent from hell, disregard this message. 🙂 )
Excellent post, but so much of this is really old-fashioned common sense and good manners, isn’t it? What happened to the golden rule? Hiding in Betelgeuse? 😉
Ruth–It’s all about the Golden Rule. Which I do think present-day online marketers think has been sent to Betelgeuse. 🙂
I agree with Ruth…a little bit of common sense can go a long way!!
For real!
Really important for writers to understand copyright. Not the stuff that gets passed around, but from The Copyright Handbook from Nolo Press.
Also, if someone has your idea and wrote a book with it, chances are you grabbed the low hanging fruit and was doing doing what everyone else did. If your get an anthology call about murder in a restaurant, the first you shouldn’t write about is a restaurant critic being murdered.
Linda–Thanks for the reminder about The Copyright Handbook!
And you make an excellent point about “low-hanging fruit”. If it’s an obvious plot, a lot of people are going to “think it up.” So many of these “stolen ideas” are nothing but cliches.
Among other things that “wonderful” author has done wrong is that submitted an uncopyrightable customized font with her app. According to the website that she got it from, their ToS specifically states that their fonts are non-copyrightable.
As for the gist of your post, I believe I’ve only done one of those foolish things early on, in that I copyrighted early unpublished tripe because I read somewhere that is something that you needed to do.
G.B. Yes, that poor woman was idiotic in so many ways. It’s going to cost her a lot of money.
That copyright myth has been around for a long time, so you’re not to blame for falling for it. Misconceptions about copyright are some of the most prevalent urban legends in the writing world. The Copyright Handbook that Linda recommends is a great resource of actual facts.
A terrific summary of the larger, more encompassing issues Anne- but without passing on the cool voyeurism of the “Cockygate” scandal in all its glory!
My reaction, as an epic fantasy guy, was “wha’ hoppen?” because my genre, perhaps more than any other, is reaching for classic images and archetypes. Sure, as much magic and as many far-out monsters as you like, but at the heart it’s The Hero Who Doesn’t Know it Yet, getting dragged into Impossible Quest with a variety of Stalwart and Amusing Companions. Copyright- I beg your pardon? And who would bother suing someone in a genre where all the air in the room has already been sucked out by Godfather in Chainmail (as we lovingly refer to GRRM’s work).
As I read further about Cockygirl, I became concerned, and then astonished, with her act of creation. Not in the book (which I will never read for the reasons you so aptly outlined) but in the Alleged Real World, which she completely peopled from the whole cloth of her imaginings- staunch supporters, grateful colleagues who took her advice, the bulk of the Right-Thinking Planet that saw the truth in her words, and then way out at the fringes, a couple haters who still didn’t get it. Talk about World Building! Put all that on paper and render it in first person, and you have a fantasy epic for the ages.
What am I saying, who needs that kind of competition…
Will–Haha. You always make me laugh. Even your blog comments are epic! Lots of fun stuff. “Cool voyeurism” indeed. I’m as guilty as anybody. But I couldn’t let it go by without a mention.
The Godfather of Chainmail–brilliant! Just think how rich you could be if you trademarked “chainmail” or “dragon” and/or “quest.”
You’re right that Cockygirl is a brilliant world-builder. I hope her alternative facts will get her through the lawsuits. There are apparently many. 🙂
Oh Anne, brava! Many of your pointers have been said but bear repeating many times. Some spammers never learn and your point about when we choose to follow someone back and the DMs come flooding in are something I can attest to. Just stop it! And the ‘cocky’ one, I sure hope he/she gets what she deserves and the many authors who have used ‘that word’ are not punished for such trite nonsense. 🙂
DG–The problem is that new writers come along all the time and they’re met with all the old misinformation. So we have to keep telling them. I know there have to be handbooks out there that tell them they’re “missing an opportunity” if they don’t market themselves to everybody they meet. And the reason they’re not selling is that they’re just not spamming hard enough. 🙁
So sad to think this is still happening. That’s why it’s important that the ‘pioneers’ in self-publishing share good info, and that others use those ‘share’ buttons to spread the word. 🙂
Great post, Anne! It used to be I might go a year before stumbling onto something that made me wonder how dumb people can be — now, it’s much more often and the dumb stuff people pull is much dumber.
I had been avoiding reading about ms cocky, based on the tiny bits I had seen — I appreciate your succinct rendering of the idiocy and wonder now if this author brings a new angle to the idea of penis envy.
I always take the publication of several books along the same creative path as the universal mind at play. Just like inventions coming to mind and popping up later in various iterations — and depending upon the skills and resources of each inventor who was ‘seeded’, the results will be more or less refined. If the writer is the filter, we would never get two books exactly alike — which is why ‘stealing’ someone’s work is pretty darned obvious.
Using Angel Eyes to launch this topic off is hilarious — just cracked me up! That image stayed in the ol frontal lobe through the whole piece! :O)
Thanks for the reminders and the links to other blogs discussions of this mess…
Always a pleasure!
Maria D’Marco
Maria–I do sometimes despair and worry that the race is devolving. But then I meet some smart Millennials and I get hopeful again. But I do think the Internet brings out the dumb in the culture.
I had fun looking for the right photo of Lee Van Cleef in that hat. It’s the ultimate bad-guy hat.
And framing cockygate as penis envy? Brilliant!!
I always enjoy your posts. Thank you for your tireless efforts to educate. I feel sorry for any authors who actually deleted their work as a result of Ms. Cocky before reading posts such as Kristen Lamb’s and yours.
Question…since you mention the photo. I noticed you didn’t include an attribution such as “image courtesy of Joe Schmoe via FotosRUs Creative Commons” with a link. Have the rules of attribution changed? I don’t have links for some of my old images, so I’ve sort of avoided using them. Thanks for the clarification.
Deb–There’s no place for a caption on the “featured image,” at least in this template at WordPress. It’s from WikiCommons–as are all my photos. It says so “behind the scenes” but doesn’t show on the published blog.
I get almost all my images by Googling ‘Wikicommons” before the description. That’s why I use a lot of classic paintings. This image was probably used as publicity for the film, which means it was okay for public use. The colored stills were not in WikiCommons.
Great post. I’ve been following the cocky fiasco since the beginning. Eye-opening, to say the least. Bad behaviour by an author, and she has not only alienated her peers, other authors, but book readers in general!
As a reader and lover of books for several decades, I find that there is a lot more of the “business” of writing books than there used to be.
So many of your points are spot on. It’s a turn-off for a me, to get inundated with the selling aspect of books. I get that it’s important, but there’s a fine line. I’m also more impressed with an author that writes less books, with great quality, than ones that write a new book every month!
Piroska–Cockygate is like watching a trainwreck, isn’t it? You want to look away, but you can’t. I hope it becomes a powerful lesson in what not to do if you want a writing career. I deliberately don’t use her name, because I want her to fade into obscurity.
I’m happy to hear you say you value quality over quantity as a reader. Me too. If I see writers churning out a book a month, I’m not going to bother. I know sometimes good books can be written in about a month (like A Christmas Carol.) but EVERY month? I don’t think so.
Great post Anne! I particularly loved your point about newsletters – that the A-listers don’t have them. By the way, the fine in Canada is 10,000, for spam like writer’s newsletters.
Melodie–I’m so glad to see the gremlins let you post! I think there’s a battle going on between Chrome and WordPress right now.
Thanks for the info on Canada’s anti-spam law. Barb Drozdowich of Bakerview Consulting in Vancouver says that Canada does impose those fines and authors she works with have been hit, So Canadians are not immune even though the law doesn’t have a cute name. 🙂
Thank you for this post!
I’ve been following #cockygate since it started and the author in question just keeps digging themselves deeper. A quick perusal of the #AuthorsBehavingBadly tag also yields some great examples of what NOT to do as an author.
Goodreads had its own drama when a group of black hat authors accused book reviewers of “bullying” if they left anything other than a glowing 5-star review of their work. Makes you think there’s quite a few writers who picked the wrong profession!
Quippish–It’s quite a drama isn’t it? And the author is still unrepentant. We’ll see how she feels after she loses the lawsuits. I see her trademark is now marked “in takedown review.”
Goodreads is a cesspool. It has improved a little, but I still advise writers to stay away.
I got death threats from a band of trolls who hung out there a few years ago. Most of them have since been banned, but some remain.They threatened to rape and torture a teenager who questioned Goodreads’ policy of allowing people to review books that haven’t been published yet.
I saw all the obscenities before they were taken down, and for that, I got the same threats. It was terrifying. I didn’t go to GR for several years after that. They emailed me photos of my house and said they were armed and “coming for me.” *Shudder*. Scary stuff.
But I turned my ordeal into some fun in my comic mystery So Much for Buckingham, where the Manners Doctor makes the mistake of responding to a review of her etiquette book and is tormented by bullies like mine. I used the texts of the real threats. Very therapeutic..
That sounds terrifying! I’m so sorry you had to go through that! Writing can be very therapeutic that way.
The #cockygate author also uploaded a drunken rant to her Facebook page which was quickly deleted but not before someone nabbed a copy. The internet never forgets as they say…
Quippish–“The Internet Never Forgets” is another thing to engrave on a plaque!
Wait. You’re not Anne Rice? Ha!
Almost, you’ve gotten me over the theft of two of my pieces—yes, by fellow writers—one that I could not even redress because I did not copyright it. Had to beg and pitch a fit to get my editor to do that for me, which he did, thank goodness!
And so now he’s no longer my editor. Yes, you are right about that, too. In self-defense you are guilty until proven innocent, but that part is coming long nicely. Yay.
This post has reminded me of something I never knew until I visited a Churchill memorial and began looking up some of his amazing and pithy quotes to cheer myself when I’m having what I call a “Churchill kind of day”. I discovered that among his many works was a several-volume set, something about “Crisis”.
Not long after that I discovered a book by Churchill, by that name, at a yard sale, in really good condition, for only a dollar, and decided to help myself, from shear respect, and also from curiosity. I was confused, though, to discover it a popular romance from the 1900’s.
Who knew: Winston Churchill, from St. Louis, and Winston S. Churchill, from London, both wrote books of nearly the same titles, at around the same time. I was too amused to be disappointed with my purchase, really. I wondered, though, in that case, who would sue whom? More investigation taught me the lovely British statesman voluntarily changed his writer name, to add the initial “S” (for Spenser) to help those in the know differentiate between the two of them.
What a fun day they must have had when they took the time to meet each other!
Katharine–I did not know that!! I had to go look up the other Winston Churchill on Wikipedia. Here’s the link for anybody who’s interested. Apparently he was a very successful novelist at the turn of the last century. Who knew? http://bit.ly/2IxUkbK
I love it when I learn new and exciting stuff from our readers!
I still chuckle at the thought. Also, there is a copyright lawyer who almost has my name. I’m older, so I should nab her, right? Haha.
Anne, the entire “Cockygate” phenomenon has been crazy, and I’d love to see the application documentation that allowed the word to be trademarked. Some slick lawyering had to have been involved.
Making oneself a publishing pariah in the eyes of your writing community is not a prescription for success. I wonder if her legal advisor took that into account. Actually, her lawyer is probably the only one who will come out of this ahead of the game, while she, a romance writer, is ironically likely to end up quite alone.
Your other points are spot on, especially when it comes to authors communicating with both colleagues and readers, or not communicating at all. It is amazing–especially as I’m always looking for mystery series authors to interview for my newsletter–how few actually have an email address listed on their website.
Carmen–I’m going to shout that one from the rooftops: AUTHORS; PUT YOUR CONTACT INFO ON YOUR WEBSITE!! The whole reason we’re here is so people can contact us. Duh. 🙂
I’m not sure that Ms. Cockygate even has a lawyer. At least some real lawyers think she doesn’t. She got the trademark through because apparently most things get through and the people in the trademark office are massively overworked.
The C&D letters were not written by a lawyer–according to some real IP lawyers. I think her lawyer was just as much a fantasy as her “readers” and her “supporters.”
Hey Anne — Ah, the Golden Rule — funny how it applies to everything, isn’t it?
Thanks for another fine post.
CS–Unfortunately a lot of marketing experts are out there telling authors to forget the Golden Rule if they want to get ahead. Makes me despair. 🙁
I spent the weekend working on a brilliant idea. Then I found that brilliant idea in book form–not once but twice. Well, that was a waste, I thought. But then I read your blog. Thank you, Anne.
Leanne-Not a waste! It’s a trend. You’re trending!! 🙂
Great post, Anne. As always. Some people think the world owes them a living. That’s where all of this comes from. They are looking for sneaky ways to accomplish what others have worked long hours, days and years to achieve.
Beth–A false sense of entitlement seems to be at work here. And a strong dose of narcissism. The rules are for other people. 🙁
I looked up the “Cocky Writer”. In looking over her blog, she has deleted her Facebook and Instagram page. I guess it is not going well for her. I feel sympathy for her and then I know I would never purchase a book of hers. There is an irritation that someone would copyright an unoriginal word and then make others miserable for having used it in a title. I’m glad RWA is taking her to task for it.
Ann–RWA is a powerful organization. Anger them at your peril. 🙂 Romance writers are a tight-knit group and very supportive of each other. If only this author had joined RWA and learned the ropes, she might have a successful career now. But instead she tried to “game the system..” Never a good idea.
Oh great. I was going to watch Murder on the Orient Express this weekend and now I know how it ends! lol
But, no. I’m not terribly worried. She sunk her own ship with this move.
Christina–Haha. That’s one of the problems with remaking Murder on the Orient Express. The element of surprise is kind of gone. Of course we all know how MacBeth ends, too, but we still go to see it.
Loved your term Black Hat authors. Did you know there’s an annual conference called Black Hat (for computer security personne)? Like for Hackers, the line can be a blur, thank you for making it just a little clearer for authors. I especially appreciate the 20% rule.
But what counts as promo, versus just being excited and posting about what you’ve written?
} Cathryn
Cathryn–Promo is a simple ad for your book. News like a new review or an interview or a blog tour can be outside the simple “promotion” parameters, but we need to be careful. But something like “I killed off my villain today. So satifying!” or “I think my next book is going to be set on a cruise ship!” isn’t promotional. At least IMO.
Hey Anne,
That embroidery comment on #7 made me LOL – literally. Good one.
This cockygate thing is really odd. I am still trying to get my wits around the idea that one could trademark a word. I’d love to know how she pulled that off, because I don’t believe she did. Or she did it in some tricky way. I feel bad for the authors she is making miserable though. We all work so hard to do the best we can, the last thing we need is ‘one of us’ coming after us. Feels almost incestual.
I’ve seen most of these mistakes made on a regular basis on social media. I have more or less given up on Twitter because it’s just a bowling alley of people screaming, ‘buy my book.’ I like to have a little conversation first. Facebook isn’t as bad but it has its moments. Though, in recent months I’ve joined a lot of FB writer groups so it might seem like more than it is.
So far, cockygate hasn’t got me worried, but I suppose there is always tomorrow. Yes, I discovered there are a few books with the same title as one of my books but as you say, it doesn’t seem to matter. Although darn it, I thought I was being so original with that one. I don’t think I spam, I try not to, and I just don’t have the cojones to do what I see some doing – plus it feels icky.
The good news is that I think that as (most) writers get oriented to the industry and community, they learn the ropes, figure out that they aren’t special snowflakes and get down to the hard business of being authors. The ones that don’t, I think will burn out and give up, at least we can hope.
Good post, good tips – now, where are the cat cartoons? 😉
Annie
Annie–Cat cartoons help, don’t they? But I only do those on Facebook. 🙂
You’re right that the divas get weeded out pretty quickly. Writing for a living is a tough job and we need to let go of the romantic notions and get to work. And befriend our colleagues.
As far as excessive marketing, I think some writers find all promotion icky, so they don’t know where to draw the line. When they read some “guru” who tells them to be aggressive, they hold their noses and do it, not realizing they’re not doing themselves any favors.
This was good. I never did any of those things. But it feels good to see them all in writing and to know I never did them.
Ryan–I think that’s the appeal of “No-No” posts. We read them to find out that we’re doing okay. 🙂
This should be required reading for new (and used) writers!
Barb–I’m so glad I’ve discovered your blog. I love your humor. “New (and used) writers”–brilliant! 🙂
Thanks for those kind words Anne. Your comment made my day!
This is one of the most frightening posts I’ve read in a long while. I had no idea people did these things. It’s appalling behavior and I’d never dream of doing any of it. That author sounds so desperate as to be pitiful. Wow. Thanks for the head’s up on all these “no-no’s”.
Patricia–Alas, bad behavior abounds in the online book world. A lot of authors are doing the wrong things because they’ve been taught to. Aggressive marketers teach authors that nasty, aggressive behavior sells books. When it fails, they get more aggressive and nasty. Sigh.
Two thumbs up for the picture of Lee Van Cleef at the top of the post! One of the best black hats since his debut in High Noon.
Robert–I think Lee Van Cleef’s Angel Eyes in “The Good the Bad and the Ugly” defined the “black hat” character. Wardrobe certainly gave him the perfect hat!
Terrific post, Anne. It should be an integral module for an After You’ve Published 101 course, which Ms. Cocky needs to take. She must be miserable in her own skin, wallowing in fear and striking out in anger. Your point about riding on coattails is a perspective all authors would be wise to adopt. Thanks so much for covering all the bases 🙂
Tina–An “after you’re published” course. Great idea. Maybe a book. Hmmm. In her defense, Ms. Cocky seems to have spent a lot of time struggling as an actor in Hollywood. I guess that would make anybody pretty bitter and jaded. She probably thought publishing is the same kind of back-stabbing world. She sure has the stabbing part down.
You would be the perfect person to write that book, Anne 🙂
I came from a family where I was able to observe two members. One was kind, loved and honest while the other was a bully, demanding, backstabber, etc. In the end the kind relative won out. He lived a happier life. More things came his way but most of all people helped him if bad things happened to him.. They wanted him to succeed.
As a child it was easy for me to see how things work. We get whats coming to us. Good or bad. I’ve seen this on a grand scale and on a personal scale. What shocks me the most is how people never seem to learn. There will always be a bad one and they will always fall flat on their face.
Good stuff. Thanks!!!
Bryan–The Golden Rule has always been true and it always will be but somehow the voices of evil and stupidity are always louder, and weak people listen to them. As Pete Seeger sang: “When will they ever learn?”
Thanks for the insightful comment!
I watched Cockygate unfold and it was crazy. Then my editor sent me an email noting I had used the word cocky in the blurb of my upcoming UF and we both wondered if I should change it. I didn’t in the end, but that shows you how far reaching it was and how nervous it made everyone.
Patricia–A real-life example of how widespread this greedy author’s influence has been. I’m so glad you didn’t change your blurb. But I would have understood if you had. She succeeded in terrorizing the entire publishing community
What a great post, Anne. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say here. I share a lot of other authors reviews and posts to my social media because I believe that people are attracted to places and sites where they can see lots of variety and sort of “shop around”.
Robbie–Great idea! Sharing info on other authors’ books is a great way to 1) please your followers 2) network with authors 3) pay it forward. It’s win-win!
Excellent post, Anne! Branding the author not the book is my mantra (both as an author and as a book marketing professional myself). I find it so interesting how this all played out. As an author, I released BROKEN PIECES in 2012 (memoir/poetry about surviving childhood sexual abuse). There was one other title out at that time in the erotica genre so I figured, cool. Completely different genre, artwork, name.
Now? There are over 30! (I honestly stopped counting at that point). Yet, my book is still in the top 10 in its genre.
**I don’t say this to SELL my book here — please understand. I say this to prove YOUR point. I’m not in competition with the other writers or their books. I stay in my lane, focus on my brand, which is all about advocacy and helping other survivors of abuse.**
As a marketing professional, I draw on my decades of sales and marketing to focus on branding the author. When we do that, we connect with readers authentically, instead of the spammy ‘buy my book!’ stuff nobody wants to see.
Kudos for your always helpful advice. I’m an avid reader!
Rachel–Thanks for stopping by! I’m a major fan of your BadRedhead Media. We agree on so many issues with social media and book marketing.
I know you’re not self promoting here. 🙂 As you saw, I had the same thing happen with The Best Revenge.
I think the explosion of indie publishing has meant that 1) there are simply a lot more books being published, so the same title is going to be used by more authors and 2) A lot of self-publishers fail to do the research to find out if their titles (or names) are already in use, and by whom.
I wish self-publishing gurus would mention that as an essential step in self-publishing: GOOGLE YOUR TITLE and GOOGLE YOUR NAME. I heard from a writer recently who discovered that an erotica writer was using a pen name that was almost identical to this writer’s real name. I suggested she use initials rather than invent a new pen name, since they can be a real hassle. And she already had a blog with her real name. But luckily she looked it up before she published!
Excellent post, as always, Anne. I find so many of the bad behaviors you mention are committed by people brand new to the writing world, and it baffles me that so many do so little research into the business or modern writing practices. Before I ever wrote a word, I subscribed to writing magazines, read books on writing, subscribed to newsletters about writing, and so on. This whole #cockygate thing is off the charts madness.
And a big THANK YOU for all your words of wisdom. I love your blog.
D.D.–You’re so right. I see new writers doing outrageously clueless things, but when I suggest reading a few blogs to learn about stuff like copyright and how to query, they say they’re “serious” writers who don’t have time for frivolous things like blogs.
Then they get a bunch of rejections because they sent rude stupid queries, so they self-publish and do no networking and don’t use social media and can’t figure out why the book isn’t selling. Sigh.
I agree about cockygate. I’ve just heard that she’s suing the lawyer who’s defending the authors she’s attacked. And another author and her agent have tried to trademark the word “Forever”.
Great post and I agree on all counts, especially about not responding to negative reviews. I think a lot of people get into this business and forget that it’s all subjective. You’re always going to have people who love and don’t love your work. And as far as the whole #cockygate thing goes, it’s completely insane.
Melissa–#Cockygate gets crazier by the minute. Somebody is now trying to trademark the word “Forever.” I guess they’re going to take a time machine back to 1944 and make Kathleen Winsor change the title of Forever Amber.
Responding to negative reviews is never a good idea. When somebody leaves a review on one of my books like “This shirt didn’t fit, I’m sending it back” I want to respond, but I don’t. I do report it. The Zon used to be better about removing mistakes like that, but I don’t know if they do anymore.
Great tips indeed. But as has been said, these should be all common sense. Although common sense should now be called “rare” sense because it isn’t very common any more. I know starting out we all can hit a few stumbling blocks and do things not so grand, as the scammers and the whole “every one else is doing it, so it must be okay approach” make you think it’s common place. But some people never wise up, all those dumb dms on Twitter and asking me to follow this, that, this, that and oh yeah, that too. Or how I magically signed up for a newsletter that I never signed up for. Or how random people send me their book to review that I will really, really like without asking first. Pfffft.
Ignore, delete, and carry on is what it has become now, sadly.
Oh, and yeah, never feed the trolls. It doesn’t end well. Heck, it doesn’t even end, as they go on and on haha
Pat–“Ignore Delete and Carry On” is another thing that needs to be engraved on a plaque and put over our desks. Thanks for the wisdom!
I want to copyright ‘love,’ not just word but the idea. Please advise on lawyer who specializes in one hundred percent, unadulterated, without discrimination, the kind that starts when you hold a newborn, a first flower of spring: ‘love,’ Thank you for the legal advice!
Caroline–Why not? You could sue everybody who has ever loved a child or a flower or… anything at all. Violate the lives of everybody on the planet! Yeah! Then call them all “ravenous wolves” if they don’t drop down and worship you on the spot.
Nice list! And I see people worrying about this stuff ALL the time. (It makes me want to go, “oh, honey!”)
P.S. I assume anyone who has an auto-reply DM if I follow them back with their website/etc is ASKING for me to send them MY website/etc. If they’re trying to network, networking they shall get.
Morgan–I have those “oh honey” moments almost daily. Agents are the last people who need more ideas. They’re not going to steal ours. Sigh.
And I LOVE your suggestion. That’s what I’m going to do from now on. Battle a pitch with a pitch. They send me a DM telling me how I can be a published author someday, I’ll send them a DM telling them how they can learn about the publishing business someday if they read my books and blog. Love it!
#2 was something I had no clue about until I read your post. In an ebook I read on how to bootstrap an indie author career, amidst all the pretty good info, the author of the book made a point of saying that any snippet of a WIP on a blog had to have all these warnings around it about how it’s copyrighted and all rights were reserved, etc. It seemed a bit much for me, but I followed that practice even recently.
No more. Thank you so much for showing me my instincts were correct. (Thankfully, I’ve never done any of the other stuff you’ve listed. *breathes sigh of relief and wipes sweat from her brow*)
Amy–It’s very unlikely anybody would steal snippets of a WIP from your blog, but I’m not a fan of doing that if your WIP is a novel because it IS publishing. That means if you ever do want to traditionally publish, it’s now been published and that could be a problem for selling first rights. I
If your WIP is nonfiction, it’s not a problem, but if it introduces characters and scenes you want to use in a published novel later, some agents won’t take it on. That’s why I feel writing *about* your WIP is much better than posting the actual book on a blog. Here’s a post on what an author should blog about. http://bit.ly/2xY2XLR.
But good for you for having an author blog!
Thank you for the concern and the link. I have no intention of traditionally publishing this particular story, but I’ll keep your words in mind for future ones. Thank you!
Second time commenting.
I’m guilty of points 6, 9, and 10.
I’m going through a serious depression right now because of my book’s performance. I wish I had hired an editor and gotten some beta readers. But I was blinded by the desire for fame and fortune. And I envied other successful authors. I wanted to troll them but I knew it wouldn’t solve the problem.
Right now I’m writing the sequel to the same book and I have the 1st chapter up for critique. They said it’s off to a good start. But hiring an editor is way out of my budget (I earn minimum wage at my day job) and now I’m at loss.
I know I’m still new, but dammit I feel like being ignored. I’m losing followers, my story sucks, and still no reviews despite giving over 2,000 copies for free.
AG–It sounds as if you’ve been a victim of the “Make a gazillion dollars with Kindle books” craze of a few years ago. Writers were misled by a lot of those hucksters. Back in 2010-13 it was a whole lot easier to succeed as an indie. But the indie world was shaken up by Kindle Unlimited, plus the tsunami of self-published books that flooded the market. It’s easy to get depressed.
But if you really love to write, keep at it. I strongly recommend seeking out a critique group. There are lots online (try critiquecircle.com) or better yet, find one locally. In person groups can do more than do an initial edit of your ms. They can also provide moral support.
And if you really are suffering from depression, do get some medical help. There are great new meds that can keep your brain functioning normally without many side effects. Hang in there!