Comments on: The Most Effective Author Marketing Tool–Kindness

By: The Number One Marketing Hurdle: YOU

The Number One Marketing Hurdle: YOU — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:46:59 +0000

[…] where self-promotion actually turns away potential buyers. Social media expert Kristen Lamb in The Most Effective Author Marketing Tool, sadly chronicles what many desperate writers (and their internet presence) become: This past week […]

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:59:02 +0000

In reply to Ava Elaine.

Thanks Ava. The funny thing is that, in the beginning, we feel like it “costs” us–time, effort, energy. If we get in the habit of giving, though, we soon realize we are not “giving away” but rather, we are “investing.” Yes, helping Donna “cost” me time, but what I really did was “invest” in a future friendship that actually has paid tremendous dividends. I am so happy to have blessed you with the blog. And, yes, it is my mission to rid the world of as much spam as possible. I don’t think writers sit up all night thinking of ways to spam people and be annoying. I truly believe writers just default to that kind of marketing because it is all they know. With my new book, they have a template for a very different approach and one that I think is more genuine and meaningful.

Modern life has stripped away a lot of the human companionship we used to enjoy all the time. He are desperate and hungry for people to care. We long for community. Social media has the power to alienate or congregate. I am so happy that you are now a part of my community! Thanks for taking the time to leave such an amazing and thoughful comment. What a tremendous start to the day, 😀

By: Ava Elaine

Ava Elaine — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:38:05 +0000

Let me start off by saying I love the edible form of spam, but I desperately loathe electronic spam. I wish it would die a horrible death. I always try to think of how much I despise spam emails and pop-ups, etc. before I send an unwarranted form of desperation. That’s why I started my blog, too, so that people could see the person behind the writing; see what makes me tick. I write substance there with writing goals and ways to connect with people. I don’t want to be a sellout and I completely agree with you about paying it forward. This beautiful concept should be practiced with everything in life to better the lives of others. If you give goodnes, you’ll receive a wealth of blessings. That can be literal and metaphorical. I’m really glad you wrote this blog post because it’s an excellent thing to address because I’d hate to see the day where writers are the modern day vacuum sales people who go door-to-door trying to give you a carpet cleaning demo. (Ironically enough, I once did this when I worked for Kirby vacuums) Writers are passionate and look at the world differently…at least I do anyways, and yes-even though we do need to have a great sales pitch, we should think about our fellow writers as well. It’s awesome to hear about you helping Donna, by the way. I’d really like to commend you for that; you didn’t have to do what you did, but you helped anyway. That is what being a human is all about…about being a writer. Very beautiful. I’ve been blabbing. Thanks again, hun!

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:39:27 +0000

In reply to John Wiswell. I totally agree. In my book I strongly encourage people to always check motives. Genuinely support and encourage because it is the right thing to do and not to get something in return. You make an excellent point, but I think we always have to check motives for all the nice things we do. This is good practice being one of the good guys, LOL.

By: John Wiswell

John Wiswell — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:47:25 +0000

Very good article with a very good moral! But this skirts that dangerous line between altruism and manipulation. I abhor the “add a friends” who just want to spam me with promotion, but fear just as much becoming the sort of person who engages other writers just so they’ll promote me. From a distance it’s impossible to tell the difference between a nice writer and a writer investing in you so you’ll invest in them. I try to keep friends from feeling used – what a terrible thing to do to one.

By: Tony Noland

Tony Noland — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:32:55 +0000

Great post. All promotion all the time is not social interaction… it’s advertising.

By: a.m.harte

a.m.harte — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:12:03 +0000

I love the introductory image — it had me giggling! These kind of posts always make me smile and it gives me hope that there are other genuine writers out there. Too many times have I had the Facebook scenario happen to me — or worse, have an author recommend his own book to me on Goodreads. Nothing could leave a worse taste in my mouth!

By: susan meier

susan meier — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:21:09 +0000

This was also before the days of the Internet, so they did all of their work live. It was impressive.

So I decided to follow suit and I give a lot of live (at conferences and RWA chapter meetings workshops) and online workshops.

I was once so green I could have been blue! But many, many people helped me. I love the opportunity to help new authors. We would be nothing were it not for each other!

susan meier

By: susan meier

susan meier — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:14:11 +0000

Actually, back in the 80’s in the big romance “boom” that’s exactly what writers did. People like Sandra Brown and LaVyrle Spencer (and many others who if I listed would take up my whole post! LOL) gave workshops, attended conferences and were very active RWA chapters.

I firmly believe that was the basis for the boom.

susan meier

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:18:56 +0000

In reply to Moses Siregar III. Wow! Made my day! I hope to continue earning your respect and trust for quality content, :D