I am always fascinated to see writers in the social networking groups spell out their frustrations and then watch the responses. This is when you really get to see the personalities show themselves. Many attitudes emerge, ranging from confident to know-it-all to self-assured to insecure to angry to helpful to loving—just to name a few.
The interesting thing to me is that the quality of the writing produced by the authors often has little to do with the attitudes they convey. Some brash know-it-alls produce poor quality work; whereas, some insecure personalities write beautifully. I learned early on that I couldn’t assume how good someone’s book would be by how confident they were about it and themselves and how good they were at marketing.
Marketing is a skill that was not necessarily packaged with the skill of writing when you picked up your talents on your way into this life experience. In turn, writing skill was not necessarily packaged with the ability to market products. Bottom line is this: just because a writer is a good marketer does not necessarily mean he or she is a good writer.
The interesting thing to me is that the quality of the writing produced by the authors often has little to do with the attitudes they convey. Some brash know-it-alls produce poor quality work; whereas, some insecure personalities write beautifully. I learned early on that I couldn’t assume how good someone’s book would be by how confident they were about it and themselves and how good they were at marketing.
Marketing is a skill that was not necessarily packaged with the skill of writing when you picked up your talents on your way into this life experience. In turn, writing skill was not necessarily packaged with the ability to market products. Bottom line is this: just because a writer is a good marketer does not necessarily mean he or she is a good writer.
If you’re a fellow writer, take the time to actually read your colleague’s book before marketing it yourself, or at the very least, follow the advice given below for a regular reader.
If you’re a reader, you should never choose a book based on the author’s marketing. If you’re buying books through Amazon, “look inside.” If you’re at the bookstore, read the first chapter. If a friend has read it, question them about it.
Take time to read books that aren’t in your face all the time. I have been reading books lately by authors I’ve never heard about before, and I have discovered, to my delight, that there are so many excellent indie writers out there whose books I’ve never seen on Facebook.
I admit that I am not a good marketer of my own “stuff” so it warms my heart when I can share above average books I’ve read that aren’t big sellers with others. If everyone made the effort to expose little-known writers who write well, it could make a big difference for a lot of writers and the industry as a whole.
©2012 Dannye Williamsen
If you’re a reader, you should never choose a book based on the author’s marketing. If you’re buying books through Amazon, “look inside.” If you’re at the bookstore, read the first chapter. If a friend has read it, question them about it.
Take time to read books that aren’t in your face all the time. I have been reading books lately by authors I’ve never heard about before, and I have discovered, to my delight, that there are so many excellent indie writers out there whose books I’ve never seen on Facebook.
I admit that I am not a good marketer of my own “stuff” so it warms my heart when I can share above average books I’ve read that aren’t big sellers with others. If everyone made the effort to expose little-known writers who write well, it could make a big difference for a lot of writers and the industry as a whole.
©2012 Dannye Williamsen
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