by Anne R. Allen
The most dangerous concept in the universe is probably, “there is only one right way.” People who insist there is only one right way to live, think, behave, or believe are responsible for most of the world’s conflict and suffering.
Merriam-Webster defines dogma as “a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted.” It stifles innovation and creative thought.
As Steve Jobs said, “your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.”
Dogmatic thinking is a symptom of narcissism. A narcissist can only perceive reality through his own narrow experience. Rather than learn about other people’s experiences, he will bully others into diminishing or denying their own perceptions and insights. Because narcissists are unable to imagine themselves in other people’s shoes, they can’t understand that everybody has their own way of perceiving—and any or all of those ways can be “right” for them.
I’ve heard this view of reality compared to a giant wooden fence, where each of us can only see through a tiny knothole. The narcissist thinks his personal knothole-view is the only “real” one, and he believes everybody else should be forced to give up their knotholes and take his word for what is on the other side of the fence.
Last month I warned about the dogmatic enforcers of what Kris Rusch calls “weird writing rules.” But the purveyors of “must-do book marketing rules” are just as dangerous. In fact, they can do more damage to your career.
Writers these days are buried under piles of insane to-do lists handed to us in workshops, forums, webinars and blogposts as if they had been carved on tablets by the Almighty and carried by Moses from the mountaintop. (Or at least from Mountain View.)
Nobody questions this stuff. Nobody asks, “Who says?” or “Where’s the proof these things will work for me?” Most authors blindly accept whatever dogma is making its way around the bookosphere this week.
We constantly hear that “everybody knows” that if our books aren’t making millions, either they’re bad books or we’re not trying hard enough.
This creates a sense of frantic urgency and what social media guru Chris Syme calls “The FOMA (Fear of Missing Out) Mindset.
Whether you’re going the traditional route or self-publishing, you’re constantly lectured by publicity experts, marketers, social media gurus and know-it-all authors who tell us: “If you’re serious about your career you must…”
- Be on Instagram
- & Medium
- & Snapchat
- & Peach
- & Tumblr
- & The List App
- & SlideShare
- & 100s of phone apps you’ve never heard of
Plus of course you are already active at…
- Facebook (both personal and business pages)
- Google Plus
- Goodreads
- And you blog superb content at least 5 times a week.
And you know you should be…
- Speaking at local bookstores
- Visiting book groups
- Teaching on panels at writers conferences
- Placing stories and articles in print magazines
- Jetting all over the planet to lots of expensive book fairs
- Skyping with your fans everywhere
- Doing blog tours
- Guest blogging
- Participating in blog hops
And where are your…
- Podcasts?
- Videos?
- Book trailers?
And if you’re indie, you do have some of your books serialized for free on Wattpad, don’t you?
Plus of course, you must run sales and advertise on Bookbub and all those other pricey newsletters. And if they won’t take your books, start writing in a genre that Bookbub likes better. Who cares what you or your existing readers want or what you’re good at?
And make sure you put in a lot of time harassing reviewers. Because they’ll be sure to write great reviews for books in genres they don’t like if you just send them enough emails. (For advice on how not to piss off a reviewer, check out Julie Valerie’s post at Cinthia Ritchie’s blog.)
And maybe buy a bunch of reviews from those paid review sites. Because lots of phony rave reviews always sell books. And Amazon has so much fun suing the phony reviewers. You don’t want to deprive them of that, do you?
And you are designing and posting paid ads on Facebook, aren’t you? What? Are you paying any attention at all?
And why aren’t you on Audible making audiobooks of all your titles? And on Babelcube getting your books translated into dozens of foreign languages? You don’t really care about your career, do you?
In addition, you MUST send weekly newsletters to everybody who has ever commented on your blog, followed you in social media, or stood behind you in line at Starbucks.
You should send those emails even if you have nothing to say but “I’m totally full of myself.” Because annoying people is a great way to get them to give you money. (Hey, it works for political candidates.)
And this is the supreme commandment of book marketing dogma: THOU SHALT SACRIFICE ANYTHING TO BUILD THY EMAIL LIST. You’re nobody if you don’t have a million subscribers. So lure them by bribing them with everything you’ve ever written for free. Or better yet, give them gift cards so they can buy other people’s books.
Because the primary aim of writers is not to write books and sell them, but to spam every inbox on the planet. Who cares that everybody deletes your newsletters? And nobody ever bought a book because of spam? And that what you’re doing is probably illegal and a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act? At least you’re following book marketing dogma, and that’s all that really matters!
And, oh yeah, in your spare time, you should be turning out twelve-to-fifteen books a year.
- Serialized novellas!
- Paranormal romances in a series!!
- Epic tomes. Big books sell better!!!
I Tweeted a post last month on how to build your mailing list and one of my Tweeps tweeted back, “so much to do, so much to do!”
I felt her pain. I realized it’s my pain too. Even as a Tweeted that post, I felt my stomach clench. There’s too *&%! much to do. And I’m sick of it. Literally. I’ve had some kind of flu-y chest congestion for two months.
But every day I see new blogposts and articles and workshops, all telling us we’re not working hard enough and if you’re not selling, it’s ALL YOUR FAULT.
And you know what?
It’s a pile of poop.
Most of the people who are telling you this stuff do not write fiction. Their pronouncements are often based on a marketing book or a blog written by some guy who claims to have made a million dollars five years ago following this formula or that. And what they don’t tell you is that guy’s sales fell off a cliff two years ago and now he’s desperately trying to stay afloat by selling this book full of out-of-date “rules”.
Remember that marketing dogma is what tells charities and politicians to phone strangers at 6 PM every Friday evening when they’re frantically trying to get dinner on the table after an exhausting work week. Telephone solicitors are told this is the best time to get people to donate money. (Apparently their bosses have confused colorful four-letter words with currency.)
Marketing dogma also teaches that the only demographic that matters is males between the ages of 18-35. This is a concept that dates from the 1950s when manufacturers—especially the automobile industry—were trying to build “brand loyalty” in the young. They thought that if they could get a teenager to brush his teeth with Ipana toothpaste, he’d be a fan of Bucky Beaver for life (sorry, you have to be very old to get that reference. 🙂 )
Most businesspeople know that “brand loyalty” no longer exists—if it ever did—but who cares? Most marketers still prefer to spend advertising dollars to reach underemployed 20-somethings trapped in perpetual student loan debt than older people with time and money to spend.
Marketing dogma teaches that marketing to people over 50 is worthless because they’re all going to croak any minute. It treats all seniors as identical, whether they’re 50 or 100 (The day I turned 55 my phone started ringing hourly from telemarketers trying to sell me wheelchairs, walk-in bathtubs, and burial plots. Happy Birthday you decrepit old geezer!)
It’s amazing how many people prefer to follow dogma that’s half a century out of date instead of trusting their own perceptions.
So I say enough with the bullbleep! The truth is there can be no dogma when it comes to marketing—especially online book marketing. These people are trying to codify something that is moving too fast to be pinned down.
You know why most books aren’t selling as well as they did three or four years ago?
Because we’re putting out over a million books a year. A million MORE books each year, because every book has an infinite shelf life. But the number of readers stays the same.
The way for an author to stand out in that vast mass of electrons is NOT by spending 12 hours a day on marketing and another 12 hours writing novels and priding ourselves on the fact we haven’t had a wink of sleep since October of 2011.
Exhaustion does not generate great art. In spite of what Edna St. Vincent Millay said about that two-ended candle of hers. Ms. Millay did not have to deal with 24/7 media, Internet trolls, addictive cat videos, or blog pirates.
My advice to you is the same as the advice my doctor gave me last week. Take a rest. Listen to what Ruth Harris said in February. Take some time to goof off.
Blogger Jami Gold recently wrote a great post on author self-care and another on how we cannot do it all They are both must-reads.
Because here’s the thing: nobody knows what sells books. What worked last month probably won’t work now.
And the one thing we know won’t work is…writing badly.
Why did J.K. Rowling become the most popular children’s author in the world? It wasn’t by giving away books to strangers so she could get their email addresses to spam them. It wasn’t by learning Mandarin and chatting up Chinese kids on messaging apps. It wasn’t by posting daily videos of her cat on YouTube.
It was by writing something unique that spoke to millions. By listening to her inner voice and not the trend predictors (and not cleaning her house for four years.)
Most importantly she was in exactly the right place at the right time with something nobody knew they wanted, but they were starving for.
I’m not saying that all marketers are full of it or that you shouldn’t listen to them. A number of very sane book marketers give excellent advice. Frances Caballo, author of Avoid Social Media Time Suck said right on this blog “I don’t think it makes sense for authors to be everywhere…Otherwise, they are wasting their time and resources.” Marketing expert Penny Sansevieri warns of “Content Fatigue.” And book marketer Chris Syme says, “Many marketers are doing authors a disservice. Much of the social media marketing advice I see aimed at authors is…borderline unethical.”
(And anybody who tells you that the way to market books is to reply to Tweets by other authors with a “buy my book” Tweet is setting you up for the Social Media Hall of Shame. When I Tweeted the countdown sale on HOW TO BE A WRITER yesterday, Catherine and I got one of those.)
What’s even more important is what Author Earnings Data Guy said at Digital Book World in February: “As industry insiders, all of us—publishers, agents, retailers, pundits and analysts, and even authors—we tend to overestimate our own importance and our influence on the ways things are going to shape up. In the end, it’s about readers and what they want.”
In other words, we don’t have as much control over this stuff as we think. The only thing we really have control over is our books.
We know we need to do the basics: whether you’re querying or self-publishing, every writer needs to be Googleable. Plus you need a website or a well-maintained blog (sorry, those six blogs you started and immediately lost track of don’t count.) And you want to be on a few social media platforms. Which ones? It’s going to depend on your genre, readership, personality and that elusive magical power of timing.
That’s because there is no “one right way” to sell a book. Each book has to make its way to readers on its own path.
To quote Steve Jobs again: “Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
And I think the most important advice we need to hear is: “log off the Internet and go write.”
Now I’ll go follow it myownself. The one thing I know for sure is that I can’t sell books if I’m dead.
I’m hoping to move this blog back to Blogger. Yes, it’s clunky and the security isn’t as good. Plus marketing dogma says “Blogger bad; self-hosted WordPress blog good.” But it’s a lot less of a hassle for someone like me who would rather spend my time writing fiction than endlessly dealing with tech.
This has been a fascinating experiment, and I’ve learned a lot. I’m very grateful to Johnny Base for all he has done for us.
But Blogger is like a comfy old shoe. I’m not sure when or if the move will happen, but expect some changes in the next couple of weeks.
By Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) March 20, 2016
Anne R. Allen is the author of ten books, including the bestselling CAMILLA RANDALL MYSTERIES and HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE. She also blogs at Anne R. Allen’s Books. This week she’s talking with Catherine Ryan Hyde about cyberbullies and review trolls.
What about you, Scriveners? Are you finding yourself buried under to-do lists and piles of dogma? How do you deal with the overload of marketing information? How do you find balance between social media obligations and actually writing?
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What would I do on Sunday afternoon if I hadn’t read your post, Anne, wherever it’s hosted. Now THAT’s a to-do item that’s never coming off the list.
The rest is just so funny as you pile it on- I keep thinking “yeah, that’s probably about the end of this list” and then you just uncork another can of whuppit from the same crate. It’s amazing, isn’t it, how much they try to dictate to us. You could have sub-titled this post “How to Become Your Own Personal Tsunami of Crap”.
I think authors need to take account of their own history- we won’t always be ready to market ourselves, much like we won’t always be ready to write the next chapter. Routines for writing are important, but marketing rules change every month like you say. We should be more like those laid-back folks who can just walk in on the TV-movie, and say “so, what’s happening now?” Whatever was the golden rule is of curious interest, and whatever happened at the start of the movie, they know the best way to catch up is to just watch it again themselves. But right NOW, what’s the deal? Then after they’ve tried it a while, they can just drift back out again. And back to writing.
It’s all good. Especially here.
Will–Thanks! It’s readers like you that keep me going, even though it’s been a rough six months. I guess I got carried away, but I’m just burnt out. Yeah, I need to be more like those laid-back folks. I need some lessons in laid-back. 🙂
Sorry WordPress didn’t work out as well as you’d hoped. I know a lot of people have said moving to WordPress is better, but I’m comfortable on Blogger and it would take forever to move stuff over and learn a new system.
Now, that was one of the snarkiest things I have ever read! Yes, I’m a total failure because I’m not on Facebook and I don’t have a personal newsletter. And I’m not cranking out books. You know. I’d be a nervous wreck if I believed I had to do all of that, let alone if I was actually doing it.
Alex–I guess I did let my snark flag fly there. We are all failures according to these people and I’m tired of it. Nobody seems to understand the concept of the 24 hour day and how people need to sleep and eat and talk to their families and stuff. Thanks for fitting this blog into your schedule every week.
When I was in Kristian Lamb’s blogging workshop, all the writers eagerly started blogging three times a week. They revised their blog posts extensively (we’re talking a thousand words), and spent all their time on Twitter. I was probably the only one who at least thought about when I did my posts so they didn’t interfere with my writing. Six weeks later, everyone else was dropping off blogging to get back to their books.
Social media is what Carl Newport (the book Deep Work) calls a distraction, because it’s designed to pull you into the next headline and the next cat video and the next and suddenly three hours have passed. The problem with marketing is that it looks like writing, because it’s for a book, except that it isn’t producing new words for a book or story. And once you’re in social media, it’s easy to get pulled in another direction by link bait.
The way I’m marketing is I have a blog, a website, and I submit stories to pro rate only magazines. Get in one of those, and it’s a lot of visibility to a lot of readers. I think KKR says it’s worth a $7,000 ad, so you get paid and get free advertising, too! I am going to do a little marketing at a con I’m going to at the end of April. I’m making flyers with three books to a page–just black and white copies. I see all those expensive full color post cards ones always at the cons I pick them up, look at them, and toss them into the trash before I leave the con. I’m sure a lot of other people do the same thing, which is why I’m doing simple black and white copies.
Linda–That’s exactly what happens, isn’t it? You throw yourself into all this stuff and suddenly you look around and realize your WIP is collecting cobwebs, and you’ve just spent six weeks of you life watching cat videos.
Great point about writing for print magazines. Thanks for the reminder! This is something I need to do more. One article I sold to Writer’s Digest later went online and then into the Writer’s Market for 2016. It just keeps on making money and also raising my profile. An article in something like the AARP magazine not only pays big bucks, but it reaches readers who would never find you online.
I’m with Will and Alex. Wherever you feel comfortable and happy (or at least not stressed and overwhelmed) is where you should be. My favorite “marketing” advice is do the things you enjoy – you’ll be better at them anyway.
I love our Google Plus group – that’s social media I can handle. Twitter terrifies me, and when I started an account, I deleted it a week later. Facebook is too… Invasive I guess for my comfort level, so I ignore the old account I have.
Making websites is my hobby, so that’s relaxing and fun for me. But if it’s not, by all means, don’t do it. If I have to Facebook to succeed as a writer (shudders), I’ll stick with teaching.
Anne, you’re doing an awesome job as it is – do what you need to do to bring back the enjoyment in your career. We’ll follow you wherever…
🙂
Nicole–Thanks! I like the Google Plus group too. Very laid back. But I always get good info there. Ruth Harris isn’t on Facebook either. You can be a writer without it. 🙂 I love Twitter, but people say its influence is fading. If you write YA, the place to be is Instagram, apparently, and Pinterest is the place to reach older women. I’ve started with Pinterest, but just haven’t had time. I wish I knew how to keep this stuff from taking over your life.
Ryan–I know this post has more potty references than people expect from me, but I couldn’t help it. I’m like the puppy in the picture. Sometimes poop happens. 🙂 Glad to hear you agree with me.
Thank you, Anne. So timely. I have been in author forums where the discussions center around marketing strategies and more marketing strategies. And heaven shield the poor writer who asks “why aren’t I making six figures like everyone else here? Or why aren’t my books selling like hot cakes? And its true, the other writers all start questioning (grilling) this poor soul with questions about their marketing, like ticking off the list you pointed out above. I got sucked into the marketing time suck a year ago, and It burned me out. Particularly the advice to put a book out every month or two months.
Since the year I have been questioning that philosphy of being everywhere and on every platform to ‘get more readers’ ( like we are collecting marbles or something!). I started to realize I am more than my writing, more than just a writer. I am also a grandma, a wife, a mom, a photographer, an artist…and the list goes on. My whole life should not be on a treadmill of writing and promoting my books. I write large historical romances, around 90k average, so after I finish and publish, I really need a break from writing. I typically take a month to six weeks off after each work. I can’t understand how people advocate releasing a book every 30-60 days. I would fear quality going down. Thank you for the voice of reason. I have this dream of people just buying my books because the lik my stories, not because I have a bookbub ad every other month to prop up sales, yet many authors I know do the ads obssessively and claim that is what sells their books. Thank you for your timely post as it helps support my new perspective on writing and on my life.
I meant “since the New year,”
Lily– I’ve seen those discussions so often. People claim to know 1000s of indie authors making millions. But I’ll bet most of them aren’t any more. A handful made it to the top at the beginning of the “indie revolution” and stayed there, but most authors’ sales go up and down. You’re not alone. Keep going at your own pace.
And you’re right: writers do need to have lives! And friends and family and time to be part of their community. Also I’ve observed that a lot of the people who set out these marketing rules in the first place are men. Not to be sexist, but men generally don’t have as many household duties as women. If I had somebody doing all my housework, cooking and shopping, I could get more writing done, too.
The Bookbub thing may have peaked. It’s now so expensive that many authors don’t break even. And the “bounce” from a freebie isn’t happening. I’ve seen plenty of complaints.
Wonderful advice. I’ve gotten over the MUSTS or other people’s must do lists. I do what I can which right now is looking for a publisher for a new anthology, write book reviews when asked, and work on other projects. I also try to enjoy the part of my life that isn’t writing. Like my hubby and our three shelties. Spending time with them always grounds me when I’m being impossibly OCD about all the other things I “should” be doing to get my work out there. People write for so many different reasons and as long as it’s fun, I’ll continue to do it. Great post as usual, Anne.
I agree, Paul. I want my writing to be fun again, not just a long to do list, like chores. ?
Paul–Writing has to be fun. If we’re only doing this for the money, then we should be writing copy for catalogues or content mills. Or digging ditches. One of these days I’m going to carve out enough time to get down there and meet your shelties and have a martini with you and Bob. 🙂
Anytime. We’re always open. Hugs, P and B. 🙂
Oh man. I think I need to watch some cat videos for a bit. I can barely get through the day job, family, & the bathroom all in one day, much less write a novel a week & market them. I feel virtuous if I write a novel a year, market all the others & publish a short story just to keep my name “fresh”. Thanks for giving me a laugh, but really, I’m going into my dark place to whimper for a while.
Victoria–A decade ago, getting out a novel a year was considered running at top speed. Now you’re a slacker if you don’t have ten. Plus all that marketing. It’s insane. And I don’t believe many writers are actually doing it. Especially the ones hanging around in forums shaming other authors all day. Sometimes whimpering is good 🙂 , but really, I’m trying to help authors relax and get back to having lives.
I soooo needed to hear this today. I’m doing all I can do for now and it seems like too much to keep up with. I just want to write, but I need time to read. between all the marketing demands there seems no time for either. Did I mention I actually also have a life and my grandkids hardly know me? They live six blocks away.
Susan–Important point!! I should have mentioned that. To be a good writer, you need to READ. Stephen King said we need to spend half our “writing time” reading. Who gets to do that these days? But what really matters in the long run? Go see your grandkids!
oh god! Bucky Beaver!!! I was already yucking it up with certain political cartoons floating through the brain pan when I got to this — which sent me howling! 🙂
I constantly have my editing clients ask: but what can you do for me as far as marketing my book? I always laugh (inside, where it counts, eh?), but from now on will instantly think of this blog post.
The only real marketing advice I give is based on what my dad (Harvard Business Prof) told me when I was a kid (50 yrs ago): figure out who might buy what you have and why (all the possibilities)–then find out where they congregate & go snoop. He believed in listening to the heartbeat of a group, and then inserting the product/thing everyone was talking ‘around’ into their purchasing sphere. In our communication-saturated world of today, this “listening in” is pretty easy to do.
I have so little time for rec-reading that I depend entirely on recc from direct contacts: authors with blogs I like, my family (all avid readers), and a few friends. If I want to explore something new, I search reviews using parameters such as names of authors I already read and enjoy. I’ve found a few new & good authors that way, as their review made a comparison to the other author’s work.
Thanks for the wonderful post, Anne — don’t care whether you migrate to Blogger, just go where it feels right for you and we’ll come along — not like we have to re-pitch the tent and build a new fire, eh?
Maria D’Marco/TigerXGlobal
Maria–Brusha-brusha-brusha! 🙂 Thanks!
Great advice there from your dad. Snoop on your target readers. I just gave that advice to a guy who has a military memoir: go online and hang out in the blogs and forums for veterans. Get to know them. Blog about stuff that interests them, and then talk about the subject you deal with in your book.
I choose my books in the same way. I read a lot of books by people I meet online. Then I read the new trad pubbed books of long-time favorite authors. If something is really trending, like Gone, Girl and Girl on the Train, I usually have to buy it to find out what the shouting is about.
Okay, here is my all-purpose-one-size-fits-every-single-person-from-1-day-old-to-walking-through-your-death-door.
“Okay….no.”
As Gordon Ramey et.al. would often say, simpler is better. My socialistic media consists of Blogger, Tumblr, and Slap-My-Face-Book. Once I can get myreal world back under some semblance of order and away from The Church Of The Flying Spaghetti Monster (RAmen!), then I’ll start concentrating just a tiny bit more on my socialist media. Until then, my time will be spent writing and trying to get a short story trilogy out to the very intelligent masses.
G.B. You’re hilarious. Love Socialist Media and Slap-My-Face Book. May the Meatballs be with you!
Great points, Anne.
Back at the start of this decade the dogma was that querying agents was the only option for authors. Where would most of us be now if we’d adhered to that?
Following a particular proven course of action just because it worked, and still works, for some, is no way to future-proof our careers.
But the key for all of us was that we learned about the options available and were able to make informed choices about or next steps. And that, at risk of sounding dogmatic, should always be our guide.
Over in the International Indie Author FB Group I often post snippets on new options opening up to us indies. Always with the caveat that no-one can, or should be, trying to do everything.
But unless we know the many options available to us we cannot make informed decisions about where we will spend our time and energy and what “new” gimmick may take our carers to the next level.
In 2010 I had to make special trip back from West Africa to the UK and find a partner to help me get my books on to this new fad, the Kindle store, even though the dogmatists told me ebooks would never catch on.
In 2013 I made the effort to get on Fiberead to get my titles into China, even though the dogmatists insisted China was a backward, insular society that didn’t know what ebooks were and would never be allowed to read western books.
Both measures paid off rather handsomely.
Some dogmatists said Facebook was a fad and reading on phones something that would never happen outside Japan.
Where would we be now if we had listened to them?
But the danger today, of trying to do too much, is tempered by the equally dangerous course of doing too little, staying in our comfy ruts and hoping the new fads and gimmicks fade away. Where would be now if we’d agreed Facebook was a time-suck fad and stuck with MySpace?
Take Instagram as an example. Instagram is now bigger than twitter. It’s not for me, but many authors are finding it works great for them.
Instagram and Tumblr are delivering millions of sales for some authors. Messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and WeChat are delivering great results for others.
Still others find video sites like Youtube, Blab and Periscope bring rewards.
No-one can possibly do them all. But only by knowing what’s available and what is gaining momentum can we make informed decisions about where to be now and where we need to be for the future.
As you said, “you want to be on a few social media platforms. Which ones? It’s going to depend on your genre, readership, personality and that elusive magical power of timing.”
Mark–Oh, the merciless query-go-round! I was on it for decades. Just last week I came on an old file drawer I hadn’t opened in years. It not only had all my old queries, but every bit of correspondence with all six of my agents. I had actually forgotten about some of them. (It all went into the recycling bin on Thursday.)
It wasn’t until I went with a small press on my own that I got my career started. But I still sent out queries, hoping to find that dream agent that dogma told me i needed
Yes, we do need to be aware of what’s out there, but we need to drop some things that aren’t working in order to let in the ones that work. I think YA authors are more likely to find readers on Instagram than Facebook.these days. But Facebook groups are a great place to network with other writers. The trick is to turn off all notifications, so your inbox doesn’t fill up with notices from all those places and stress you out.
The main thing is to listen and learn and make your own decisions, not follow dogma from 5 years ago.
Love you, Anne. This is wonderful stuff. Thanks.
Jill–Thanks 🙂
Wow! I love this, Anne. As a baby lamb who once advocated all those things, and tried to do them, and gave up, and was swirled into a sink of near-clinical depression, and cried Phooey! at my computer, and tried to dump it out of the window, and was forestalled by my children (they wanted my darned computer, even if I didn’t), and who found the light, just in time, and now does none of those things, I can relate…
Oh, I can relate.
I can tell you about a household-name guru (you’ll know his name) who stung me for $2500 to re-package my book for Amazon, using a tested formula he hadn’t tested. (No matter, the theory sounded good to me when I read it in his Kindle ebook. I found out too late, his ebooks don’t sell either.)
I can resonate with your advice: forget social media. Only magpies hang out in Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Reddit, Stumbleupon and other fast-moving sewers. Magpies don’t have minds. Or buy books. Probably, magpies can’t even read books.
I speak from five years of being on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook. Five years in the sewer. Five years wasted.
BTW: I’ve found a prettier word than ‘dogma’. It’s ‘shibboleth’. Eschew all shibboleths! Even if Seth Godin advocates them. And especially then.
John–Shibboleth is a great word! But if I used it, I couldn’t have used the cute puppy picture. 🙂
You’re not alone. I know lots of writers who have paid money for this kind of nonsense and found out as you did, that the “guru” couldn’t even sell his own books.
It’s great to hear you’re able to keep your career on track without social media. I think that’s because you have actually created your own social platform with Writer’s Village.
I’m not telling people to try that at home, though. I’m saying we need be on social media, but choose wisely and avoid time-sucky activities.
Ay, it’s a nice feeling, Anne, to get more click-throughs from organic search via Google than from social media, as I now do. Then you can say Phooey to Google+, Facebook, etc. But you have to hit that threshold. And it takes time. If you start a blog with zilch sign-ups, just a dozen click-throughs from Facebook, etc, feels like a lottery prize.
Psst… I get a lot of traffic from Pinterest. Do they sign up to my list? Dunno. But the click volumes are almost as good as organic search. I tried to pin the pic on your post above to Pinterest but the site wouldn’t let me. Something to take up with your technical folk?
John–We get most of our traffic from organic search, too. But this blog doesn’t sell books. My tiny new book blog sells way more and that mostly gets traffic from Twitter and FB and Pinterest.
The photo is from Wiki Commons. Maybe it has to come directly from there? I don’t have a clue. This is why I want to go back to Blogger. This is all wayyyy too techy for me.
The puppy picture was insanely cute! Thanks for the post.
Tina–I loved the puppy too. I wanted to find a cute puppy who might just have had a doggie “accident” and was feeling a little sad.
Hi Anne, I am so very sorry to hear you have not been well. You are a breath of fresh air. I loved your rant. You wrote about what I’m sure most of us feel but only rant about to our dear friends and family. I have always loved your slow blogging advice. I have you beat in that department though as I blog only every other week…hee hee. I’m not on Twitter, but I do love Google+ and Pinterest. There is no one-size-fits all. As much as I love working at my craft, Sunday is my day to rest. Come Monday, I can’t wait to write, draw and/or market in a non-threatening, spammy way. I’m sorry you’re not happy with your self-hosted WP blog. I love mine. But then again that’s all I know. Again…take more time to rest and rejuvenate. Happy Heart Hugs. ❤️
Tracy–Thanks much. I think we all need a day of rest even more than people did in Biblical times. I keep trying to carve out some downtime, but stuff keeps filling it up again. There is definitely no one-size-fits-all. I need to do some serious trimming of the stuff that takes my time away from writing and self-care.
Thank you for writing this post, Anne. A couple of months ago I was up to my ears in the dogma. I managed to clamber out, wash myself down, and am feeling much happier. I shall save this post and read it if I ever step near the “bullbleep” again. 🙂
Hope your move back to Blogger is a smooth one.
Wendy–So glad to hear you got clean 🙂 Thanks. I think I need to be in a familiar environment where things are automatic. Not such a steep learning curve.
Oh Anne, you always make me laugh and nod my head at once. I too, feel the urge to rip my ahir out at the roots on a regular basis, because there is so much ‘advice’ out there that frankly speaking, sucks.
I do suffer terribly from the fear of missing out, but usually come back to my senses when I make writing actual books a priority. Unlike many, perhaps, I never expected as an indie I’d be the next new hot author out of the gate. I knew it would take time, and a lot of work to get to even a comfortable place. And mostly I’m okay with that. I try to remember that slow and steady wins the race.
And yeah, right outside my front door is real life and that’s pretty darn amazing too.
Thanks for the shot in the arm.
Happy Sunday to you.
Annie
Anita–This really hit me on a sunny day last week when I opened my study window and in wafted the scent of jasmine and roses and the sea air and i couldn’t even go out and look at my own garden. I realized I might as well be living in some hovel in the rust belt if I’m not enjoying my beautiful cottage by the sea. Slow and steady may not win first prize, but at least we’ll enjoy the race.
Yes, too true. LOL. Except for grocery shopping and going to the bank, I hadn’t left my house for a month – until this week. We’ve got a jasmine tree in the backyard that is in full bloom now – a perfect reason for wandering outside and taking a breath. 😀
Woo hoo. I feel this. I’m so tired of learning new tech and trying to keep up with posting. I did just discover MEDIUM and will use it as an outlet for my non Girl in the Jitterbug Dress vintage brand, but, even that is tough, since they like the pix horizontal and 900 pixels wide. More reformatting.
Ultimately, its about finding the balance. The Publishing world IS changing, and whether we like it or not, being marketing savvy is a must. Would Rowling be as successful today? Hard to say, but I’m going to continue to find the balance of creative writing and marketing/social media.
~ Tam Francis ~
http://www.girlinthejitterbugdress.com
Tam–I do hear really good things about Medium. After I finish my WIP, I may check it out. Yes, we have to keep up with the information, but we can’t act on all of it, or we won’t be around to enjoy any of it.
Thank you for your rant today – truth is so good when wrapped in humour! And I too am really tired of all the must do’s that have been loaded onto the backs of writers – It’s refreshing to be told to take time to live, love and write.
Arlene–Yes. We only have so much time on this planet. We should be enjoying it. 🙂
Back to Blogger, really? I thought WordPress was beginning to feel like home to you. I do so well understand the “old shoe” concept, though 🙂 Perhaps, there are ways to make a Blogger blog more secure?.. Good luck with the move, Anne, should you decide to move.
And please listen to your doctor — take a rest. Be well.
Thank you for the great post.
Sasha–Thanks for the good luck wishes. I don’t know if/when it will happen. I learned a lot and I’m not telling people not to use WP. I just know what is comfortable for me. I think I got hacked because I didn’t have a strong enough password. Now I’ve got something called Last Pass that gives me passwords that are harder to hack.
Do longer passwords. Most people do short ones that are really easy to guess. I do stuff like “flick bick,chick&21wick” (which I just made up on the spot; not an actual password). Most people put a capital letter at the first letter and numbers on the end, so those are pretty easy for a hacker to guess. Google allows longer passwords and spaces, so you can do sentences.
Linda, thanks for that tip. I always put the numbers at the end, and I’ve been trying to use random signs like #%^, but I always forget which ones. A sentence would do the trick!
Different drummers unite! (or not) Great post, Anne, & so true.
CS–Boom chucka boom 🙂
Yes,yes and Yes! I am a career marketing (with a marketing degree) and I couldn’t agree with you more, Anne.
Re over 50: We used to say, “There are no old marketers.” This is true, in that the game kills you or you tend to leave it before it does. But is also means that marketing departments are populated by the young. And people over 50 are just not in their sight lines.
Re books: Your message about ‘what worked 2 years ago doesn’t work today’ is right on the mark. An A-lister said to me recently (on the matter of getting sales): “I’ve never seen a business like this before, where not a single person in it knows what to do.” And that’s at the houses.
Melodie–So that’s it! Marketers are all young. It’s like the interns who read the slush pile in NYC agencies. They’re all in their 20s so they’re not interested in reading about people over 29. And people over 50 don’t exist. (Except when they need a hand-out from Grandma.)
Very interesting that a major trad pub marketer doesn’t know what’s going on either. We’re in the middle of seismic change. There is no solid ground.
Thanks for reminding me of what I knew many seasons ago but have failed to follow more recently. The one rule of writing that writers violate at their own peril: THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS FOR A WRITER IS TO WRITE!
SK–We’ve all been distracted by the seismic changes in this industry. We do need to know this stuff, but we can’t let it get in the way of actually writing.
Hi Anne!
Thanks for the Bucky Beaver reference. It reminds me of my sister and my family and how fast time flies! I love writing but my peeps come first because they grow up too darn fast! Something’s gotta give so it’s extreme marketing for me! Besides exhaustion makes “the” look like “ta-he”! 🙂
Thanks for the hall pass!
Tricia–Isn’t it amazing how that stupid little jingle is still in your head. I think it must have played during the Mickey Mouse Club. Exhaustion is no fun and there’s no proof it sells books.
Well said Anne. I’m currently unpublished, and all this so called ‘advice’ worries me, so I can just imagine what it is like for those who are published. I think it causes a lot of unnecessary stress and takes the pleasure out of writing. I’d like to think that keeping the focus on our writing and do whatever marketing we feel comfortable with should be enough – after all I have heard say that the best marketing is through word of mouth. I couldn’t help but chuckle at what you said about newsletters and email lists, though. I find it a bit rude in receiving a newsletter that I didn’t even sign up for.
Sorry to hear you’re not well. I hope you get better soon – you deserve a break. And if you do decide to go back to Blogger, like others, you know I’ll follow you wherever you go (and I hope that doesn’t come across as creepy as it sounds). 😉
Debbie–Thanks I appreciate my loyal readers. I do hate those newsletters I didn’t sign up for, though. I get two or three a week. Usually for genres I’d never read from people I’ve never heard of.
Don’t let all this scare you off writing. Who knows, you could get with a big publisher who has a publicist for you. You never know. 🙂
Hi Anne, Loved the humor in this post. LOL, I think you hit on most of them on the list. Really, when is a writer to do their own writing. And there are books to read, also by other authors.
Yeah, writers need to feel a balance. And to enjoy life, a little. These days I’m having so much enjoyment tying string around all my tomato plants to support them while catching a little sun. Just doing that simple, little act, I’ve found some peace within. Its nice to just shape the abundance of the universe into the way I want it to be, where nothing disturbs me.
As for blogging, I haven’t changed my post in months. I think some are getting to understand how I operate, and will still comment on my old post, which is usually triggered off by my own random visits when I occasionly make the rounds and comment. So, it makes no difference, I feel in the time lapse if I blog a lot, or very little. Most realize I’m creating and editing books, or reading books, or getting on with life. Many who visit ofcourse, might be old blogger’s from several years back.
The trick is, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.
Look forward to seeing you at blogger. I do sympathize with you and the Tech world. I gave the latest laptop back to the person who gifted it to me, as I didn’t want to my brain to be disturbed with tech. I mean, I felt they were pushing me to transform at the speed of light, and constantly on my tail about it. When I’m ready to publish, then I’ll stick my neck out, so to speak. The cloud for now, can keep its distance LOL.
Jacqueline–Gardening does it for me, too, although with my gouty knees, a lot of it is too much for me. But I’ve just spent an hour in the garden pruning back plants that went crazy with the rain earlier this month. Felt great.
I have a secret theory that the guys who design this stuff are nerds who couldn’t get dates for the prom and these constant, horrible, pointlless, nasty “updates” are their revenge on people who have lives. Is that mean? 🙂 I got rid of my last phone and went back to a flip phone. It has this fabulous feature: it makes phone calls! What a concept.
Another excellent post (although I have to wonder if part of the reason I worship at the Anne R. Allen altar is because she shares my views on so many writing issues??). First gold star awarded a few posts ago when she said it was okay to stop chasing my tail on building an email list. Second gold star today for admitting WP wasn’t a good fit. I still haven’t decided what I’m gonna do about my hosting, but it’s nice to hear multiple viewpoints so I can have some chance of making a reasoned and informed decision. Keep up the great work. Much appreciated.
Lissa–I don’t mean to say there’s anything wrong with WP. Just that I’m more comfortable when I’m in control of my own blog. When things are easy. I guess I’ve always been happier on my own. Whenever I give my personal power away, I feel stressed. I’m glad we agree on so many things. 🙂
This is wonderful advice for us and, like you said, for yourself. You have pushed yourself too hard and need and deserve a break. We need you here! We need you healthy and able to share more of your wonderful, fun advice! It is amazing how you can be so much at the end of your rope and still have such humor. I love that about you. Return to your “comfortable old shoe”. Take a nice walk. Breathe deeply. Smell the flowers. For today it is Spring!
Christine–That’s the simple truth. I need a break. 5 years without a day off is too long. I need to heal and learn to walk again and enjoy what’s left of my life. And yes! It’s the first day of Spring!
Wonderful post Anne. I’d write a blog post analysis of your post with cited references in support of my concurring opinion, which I could then tweet, linkedin, instagram and Facebook – but it would take away from precious time on edit #748 of my novel. Social media freedom is (temporarily) mine.
Deborah–LOL. Freedom from social media is a lovely thing.
Another fabulous post by the amazing Anne! How are you, my friend? Not well? I think you have the same cold as my husband. I’m up reading your post at 4 am because he can’t stop coughing. The stress on your chest after continuous coughing for weeks on end must be horrible. I feel for you both! Get some rest. (And some chicken noodle soup.)
Anne, thank you for the shout-out and for linking to my interview on Cinthia Ritchie’s website. A nod from you is worth more than all the followers on Instagram, Medium, Pinterest, Snapchat, Peach, Tumblr, The List App, SlideShare, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, Goodreads, LibraryThing, YouTube, Reddit, StumbleUpon . . . ETC! Good gravy, just listing all the social media sites is exhausting.
You’re the best, Anne. Keep doing what you’re doing. Wherever you go (WordPress, Blogger), I will follow. Content is king and you’re the kingy-est.
And yes, I said kingy-est. It’s not a word – yet. Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn it’s the name a new social media site. Let’s all rush over to establish ourselves and start racking up crowns or some other such thing. NOT.
Be well, Anne. Thinking of you always.
Julie–Sounds as if your hubby has the same nasty virus I’ve been fighting for months. Awful hacking cough that keeps you up all night. So you’re sleep deprived and can’t fight it off and it keeps relapsing. Not nice.
Great interview with Cinthia Ritchie! So many people don’t have a clue how to approach a book blogger. It’s a query. Be professional, people!
I like the word kingy-est. 🙂
Hahaha, BloggerBleep! I love that and probably gonna use it ?.
I had one of these “revelations” too. I make a living as a marketer for real estate and tourism and some days I have no words no ideas.
I also realized that I was spending so much time “building my platform” that I had nothing for the platform. I felt guilty if I didn’t have a weekly blog post, or hadn’t retweeted followers etc. I decided that unless I’m enjoying whatever it is I’m doing… I’m not doing it. That was about 6 months ago and I’m so glad I gave myself permission to chill.
Enjoying my family and having a clean house gives me the peace of mind to be creative and to enjoy the journey. Which I’ve decided is important to my whole well being.
Thanks for posting this. ?
Cindy–I see so many writers being pushed into “building platform” before they’ve had a chance to learn their craft and write some books. You don’t need a store before you have anything to sell, but the know-it-alls don’t seem to get that.
A clean house? What’s that? 🙂 One of these days I want to find out. 🙂
I’m sorry the move isn’t working out for you. If it makes your life easier to return to Blogger, then moving makes perfect sense. I’ve fallen victim to Dogma marketing advice and wasted way too much money, money I never needed to spend. Your advice is always appreciated, Anne.
Sue–I’m sure it would have worked under different circumstances. Nothing against WordPress. If I’d started here I’m sure I’d love it. Just need something simpler right now.
The people making money in publishing right now are the ones making money from authors not for authors. Sorry you were a victim of those folks. My advice to new writers is pinch every penny till it screams.
I gave up a while ago on trying to be everywhere. I try to be active on the accounts I do have, but whenever I get an email about joining a site I’m not a part of I just delete it. The most I can do is be in a few places and give myself enough time to write. Oh, and not procrastinate too much. 😉
Patricia–I get those requests all the time too, and it’s hard to say no, especially when people you really like invite you. But we have these pesky 24 hour days. And bodies that need sleep and food and even the occasional ray of sunshine.
Yeah, I recently ditched my self-hosted WordPress site. It was lovely to maintain, but it got hacked every 3 months, and finally something installed malware on my web server through a security hole in Jetpack. I migrated to WordPress.com and have spent several months in non-hacked bliss.
I hear you on social media stuff. I hang out on kboards, and hear this stuff all the time. I’m also too lazy to do that much marketing. I’m going to finish my series and trilogy and market the heck out of the box set, but for now, it’s nose to the grindstone, getting stuff written, edited, and revised.
Kessie–That is very interesting! So your WP dot org site was more attractive to hackers than the freebie dot com site? My Blogger blog got hacked, which is why I moved to WP dot org in the first place. I think the Blogger one is less likely to get hacked now because all the moves will lower our stats a lot.
Kindleboards are a great source of information, but they’re also major anxiety-generators. I stopped going there because I was feeling so much pressure to “do it all.” Finishing the trilogy first and then marketing is very wise. Marketing can be a big waste of time and money when you only have a few titles.
Yeah, like your blog, mine had great stats and visibility. Not anymore! But I was never hacked by a person–it was always bots. Nothing more irritating than to realize that you’re so easy to hack that a bot can do it.
I use kboards as cheerleading. I look at peoples’ successes, and it’s not overly difficult, just time-consuming. Also the sales funnel in Write, Publish, Repeat won’t work without a completed series. So I’m filing it away to use later. The bits of marketing I’ve tried (like newsletters) have performed quite well for me, so I know it works. I also get book reads when I update my blog frequently. So yeah. 🙂
My old Blogger blog had some great stats, but I know I’ll lose a lot by moving back. But those numbers don’t mean much in terms of book sales. My little fiction blog sells more of my fiction than this one does.
Kboards are a great place to meet other writers and exchange info, but all that info can be overwhelming. If a newsletter works for you, great. I prefer a blog people can subscribe to and comment on, because a newsletter isn’t interactive. But I do update both blogs weekly on a firm schedule.
What a total bloody relief your post has been. I’ve been one of those people who have been too eager to follow every piece of book marketing advice blasted across the internet. I spent the last 4 weeks creating an e-book that I could give away in return for an email. Not a single minute spent writing in all that time. No more! Thanks for waking me up with your welcome words of pure sense.
John–It’s good to hear you find the post a relief. I did get pretty ranty, but I think this stuff needed to be said. Somehow, writers need to have some time to write our actual books–not just freebies, blogs, and newsletters. Enjoy getting back to your WIP!
Yep, my head has been spinning lately – trying to still promote two books that came out last year and gearing up for promoting the one coming out in May of this year. Every day I feel I haven’t done enough so I search for what I’m GUESSING might (operative word) work to find people to buy my books. Your post has truly clarified for me that at some point I have to realize that NO ONE knows what will sell my books. I can only do so much. Then I have to sit down and continue writing another book. Thank you for taking a giant load of guilt off my back and making me think more realistically.
Patti
Patti–That’s what prompted my rant–that feeling that I’ve never done enough and I’ll never catch up. That kind of constant stress takes its toll. So let go of the guilt! Nobody knows what they’re doing in this business right now.
Coming from someone who knows, i.e. you, I thank you for your advice..
Bless you, Anne…and thank God! Now, I can finally stop spending time worrying that I’m not on social media enough (which I’m probably not) and get back to writing.
Alexa–The worrying is what gets to us. It sure does with me. So just skipping the worry part should help. 🙂 We do have to be on social media, but not nearly as much as they tell us. A quick check twice a day on a few sites and you can go back to work. Happy writing!
You’ve put together a great overall list of marketing possibilities. Now to hone the list to what I can actually have a great time doing.
Redd…and actually leave time for some writing. Remember that! 🙂
I love you Anne! And wow, what a list, eh? I’m exhausted by just reading it (I also laughed like crazy because it is crazy and yet we just keep on trying to do more and more and then apologize for not having enough time for, you know, our real lives. It’s funny, and yet it’s not funny). P.S. Thanks so much for mentioning the post I did with Julie Valerie and linking to my blog. Cheers and have a great week. P.S. I moved my running blog from Blogger to WordPress last year and I really miss Blogger. It fit with my running philosophy more than WordPress. Good luck with your transition.
Cinthia–Thanks for stopping by! You have a great blog. Thanks so much for letting me know I’m not the only person to miss Blogger! It’s so simple and intuitive. I like simple. 🙂
I have been fighting with a lot of people about this because I do actually believe in a more laissez faire approach to book marketing. Namely: sure, be everywhere that you enjoy anyway, but focus on getting books out.
But MAN. You’d think I was committing sacrilege by saying I wish people would get over the mail list fad already.
Misha–When you step on people’s dogma, they do get kind of hysterical, don’t they? And book marketing dogma is like a religion for some people. Especially those email lists. They worship at the altar of spam. Sigh.
I LOVE YOU ANNE R. ALLEN! This is perfect. It’s going on WiDo Publishing’s Facebook page just as soon as I can decide which of your many quotable quotes to choose as the header. Selling marketing advice to desperate authors is big business right now. It’s time for common sense to reign so THANK YOU for this post.
Karen–As a publisher, you probably run into even more of this dogma than i do. Thanks for sharing! You’re right that making money off desperate authors is big business. It gets worse all the time.
PREACH! Loved this! (LOL re: the J.K Rowling paragraph. Excellent points.)
Nina–Hi! Good to see you here. I loved reading that JK Rowling didn’t clean her house for four years. Nobody really can do it all. So much of it is about luck and good timing. Stuff we can’t control.
Love this post. Just mentioned it on my blog. http://bit.ly/1LJTgSi
Michele–Thanks for the shout-out!
Thank you for making me laugh pretty hard with this post. You have it dead right, Anne. We are bombarded with messages demanding that we do this and do that if we want to sell books. It’s enough to make anyone just throw in the towel. But of course listening to other voices all the time, as you (and Steve Jobs) point out, is never the right thing to do. We probably know more than we give ourselves credit for and our ideas about what to do are likely better than anything some marketer who has never met us will tell us. Thanks for telling it like it is! 🙂 Jay
Jay–I kind of let the snark out on this one. 🙂 But I get so tired of all the frantic, rush-rush, sleep-when-your-dead advice I’ve been seeing out there. People tend to be sheep and fall into herd behavior. But herd behavior is exactly what won’t work in book marketing. We have to be unique.
I absolutely love Anne R. Allen. She writes exactly what I want to say. 🙂 I was just complaining a few days ago about the exhaustion I feel from trying to do so much. It’s overwhelming and literally zaps the joy out of my love for writing. I spend hours and hours trying to keep track of social media posts, updates I need to do, blogs I need to write, advertising that isn’t effective, blah blah blah. I just want to write books! But if I leave and do just that, I become invisible and the madness of attracting new readers in the haystack of hundreds of thousands of books starts all over. Serenity NOW!
Sydney–Thanks! 🙂 It IS overwhelming. There’s no doubt about it. We have to choose very carefully where we put our time. I’m working on limiting my social media time using a timer. (It also tells me when I have to get up and move around to keep my body working properly.) So far I’m mostly finding the timer annoying, but I’m getting more writing done! Best of luck. We’re all fighting this battle.
Anne, is this what you call taking it easy? Have you counted how many words you’ve written in replies to comments? It’s taken me 35 minutes just to read the comment section! Still, we are lucky to have you writing such good stuff helping us to go away and relax. Thank you for exhausting yourself.
Robert–I never thought of counting all those words. You’re right that answering comments is time-consuming, but I do feel it’s time well-spent. It turns out we’re not moving to Blogger but another WP site with a simpler set-up. Anything that doesn’t involve me banging my head against the desk as one more post disappears and has to be entirely rewritten will be a good thing. 🙂
I posted this on Facebook and on twitter. Maybe, more people will do what they want and *cough* not what they think they should. I like blogger too, when I have the time I want to work on heee … my warcraft blog. xD