Any New-Author Faux Pas to Share?

[Feliz]

Gah, I need to vent to other published authors because I have no friends who are published authors. Okay, so as a new and inexperienced author of two short ebooks published in less than a year, I should have known I was bound to commit some kind of faux pas at some point. I mean, all my lurking over the years at the old Kboards wasn't enough, because of course, lol.

So, today, I got an email by Goodreads warning me of self-promotion spam in the reading list comments, that multiple members flagged me as spam recently. In fairness, a lot of these lists do state that authors can suggest their own books, and I already own a lot of what the particular lists I searched for have for inclusion purposes. I didn't realize this was against the community guidelines, and I've seen others do this. Though, I suppose after about five or more comments about my latest book to add to said lists, even if reworded slightly, it could seem rather "spam-esque". As someone who has social anxiety even online, this sucks, and it's like having a dent on a new car. So, shortly afterward, I posted a blog on Goodreads apologizing about it because I can't let this go so easily. Is that another faux pas, too? Marketing is tough when on a budget and with low sales, and I still need to look more into AMS and pricing experiences for the short stuff I have to offer, since I have some money but not a whole lot. But that's another topic for another day.

Any new authors out there who can relate, or any established ones who might have made mistakes in the past? I don't want to seem dramatic or anything, but I also want to do things right without hurting my already-tiny image.

[Simon Haynes]

I 'casually mentioned' my books around the place way back when, as do many (most?) authors when they're starting out. We're excited about our work and we want everyone to know about it.

It happens a lot, not just on Goodreads but all over the internet. And so, as one of thousands you really won't stand out as a flaming beacon whose name they're all going to remember.

I'd steer clear of the place for a few months and then, on your return, just participate in discussions you care about without mentioning any books.

[Feliz]

Thank you for your kind and honest reply. I actually wondered about being less active on there for now until it blows over, even despite my being a nobody. I really appreciate the advice from someone who's experienced in this.

[idontknowyet]

I haven't finished anything so I cant be counted as a new author yet. But one faux pas I see all the time on forums is authors responding to reviews.

[Feliz]

It's funny you mentioned that because that's something I would've easily done until I started lurking on Kboards some years ago and learned not to do that. Yeah, it's definitely not something I want to do now, even if it's for a positive review.

[LilyBLily]

Goodreads has a reputation as a den of vipers if an author dares to self-promote. Years ago, some members even would maliciously 1-star books on Amazon--or so I have read elsewhere.

I list my books there and otherwise steer clear. It's a site for readers, not writers. If you bring only your reader self there, you'll be okay. If you try to bring your writer self there, you'll continue to run into trouble.

Buying one of their expensive ads apparently results in nothing except wasted money, BTW.

Run some cheap AMS ads as a test. If they sell your books, keep running them as long as the profit outstrips the cost. I have some AMS ads that have been running for over two years with no pauses, and they continue to make my books visible and sell them to people who would otherwise not know they existed.   

Fun times.

[Feliz]

It's a shame that Goodreads have to be that way, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I have heard of many authors leaving that site over drama and what not, so there's that. I didn't even know about the 1-star attack, though. That's abuse and not cool at all. :(

Thank you for telling me about the expensive AMS ads. While I don't have much money at this time, I still have enough for something cheap, and your experience with that is reassuring. Over two years? Wow, I'm impressed. Of course, I imagine writing longer works also helps. I have novellas written, just that they're not ready to be professionally published yet. I'd also pay for covers more professional than mine for my longer works, since I'm still limited on what I can design myself, and I imagine they can help a lot on top of the ads.

[Vidya]

Please don't feel bad and don't beat yourself up about it. The internet is the kind of place where it’s impossible to avoid making faux pas of some kind. We’ve all posted things we regretted.

I’ve been lured into totally pointless fights with bigots who tried to harass me into agreeing all Muslims in India should be slaughtered. A smart person would have had the sense to stay clear of these bigots.

I’ve had people deliberately needle me and attack me and I’ve been dumb enough to respond when again I should have had the sense to stay quiet.

Trust me, at some point we’ve all posted things we shouldn’t have. it’s not just new authors. The net is the kind of place where we often speak without thinking simply because it’s so easy to think there are no consequences.

So you made a little mistake, big deal. It isn’t some huge mistake with huge repercussions, though I understand it must have felt embarrassing and hurtful when you got the email from Goodreads.

[Vidya]

Oh, and what Lily said about Goodreads. I use that place only to ask for beta readers and I’m careful to do it only in the threads where self promo and asking for betas is allowed.

[Feliz]

I appreciate the encouragement, Vidya. Thankfully, I've avoided those kinds of fights and debates these years, but I can definitely understand how easy it is to fall under that bait trap. Social media alone is a blessing and a curse because it can be great for promo, but it can also be too easy to interact with your readers and forget you have a professional reputation to uphold. I advertise more on my website and Facebook than I do on Twitter, and I think it's because I find Twitter more social and tedious for advertising (and no edit feature). On Goodreads, I don't even dare to down-rate a book because of any possible attacks, so I just add the books I personally enjoyed as a reader if I do rate them.

Yeah, it definitely stung to get that Goodreads email, but I'll definitely look at it as a lesson learned. It really is great to meet other authors who have been there before. I didn't get to read a whole lot of threads like these at Kboards back in the day, but I'm sure there were plenty of them. I was more focused on other aspects of publishing. Thank you for sharing your experience, though.

[David VanDyke]

#1 faux pas I encounter:

New author: "What's 2+2?"

Big Indie: 4.

New author: "You sure? Because I heard it was 5.65."

Big Indie: Whatever, idiot. Bye.

[Feliz]

Yeah, arrogance and stubbornness don't get any new writer anywhere in the publishing field. If I submitted a piece to a big indie and the editor was interested but with strong suggestions or changes, I'd listen to whatever advice there may be. I'd never argue with someone willing to give me a chance of success. Thank you for sharing.

[TinkSaid]

Hi Frank,

Not a new author, but when I was new, and new to GR, this happened. It still embarrasses me to this day.

I was thrilled with GR's bookshelf feature, and proudly added my own debut title to 'books I've read.' But the next screen wanted me to rate it. Being new, I thought this was mandatory. Or maybe I couldn't move on & add more titles until that title was rated, can't remember.

I do remember thinking I couldn't possibly give myself five, or even two stars. So gave my own title one star, and lesson learned, never again added my own titles to 'books I've read.'

If by chance any GR librarians read this, I'm so sorry. 

As others have said, GR is a fantastic site - for readers with a capital R.  I should imagine most realise you made an honest Faux Pas (love that phrase!) especially as you've posted an apology. If you're not yet published but looking for readers/feedback, maybe consider Wattpad, or National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)?

Edited to add, generic you, not you, you.

[Feliz]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, and it's great to meet others who can relate. It's what I love about the indie author community, the sharing and support. Yeah, it can be tough as an author in a sea of Readers with a capital R. It's kind of ironic that even on the old Kboards (like GR), there was this "separation" between many writers and readers, so to speak. We should go hand in hand naturally, but we don't often seem to, lol. And yes, to the GR librarians out there, I do apologize!

I'm actually published on Amazon separately and through Draft2Digital for wide, two short ebooks, but I'm still new because it hasn't been a year yet, and I haven't gotten a lot of exposure. However, I have more stories on Wattpad, all "clean" mermaid stuff (and a separate account for erotic fiction that is sadly my biggest hit on there with over 5.5K reads and 200+ votes for one story). I also recently applied to become an ambassador there, but we'll see if I get accepted. Yep, I've done NaNoWriMo a few times and won in 2015 and 2018. It's tough but fun. I even read a thread on here somewhere about someone reading a book that recommended writing at least 1K words a day. I should do that. These are all ways to get yourself out there and exposed, I suppose. Well, more so if you do it as part of a community. The problem is that I write different genres, so exposure and marketing can probably be an extra challenge.

But I digress! I wish we could be both readers and writers with no issues the way we can on a site like Wattpad, but even then, not always. I guess we just have to train ourselves to be readers only when interacting with certain communities. Here's hoping to fewer faux pas! (I have no idea how to pluralize that French loan word.)

[PJ Post]

#1 faux pas I encounter:

New author: "What's 2+2?"

Big Indie: 4.

New author: "You sure? Because I heard it was 5.65."

Big Indie: Whatever, idiot. Bye.

I see this a lot too, and while I don’t categorically disagree, it needs to be said that, while some Indies are extremely knowledgeable about the industry and business in general, that's not always the case.

Many financially successful Indies have no clue how they made it. Others made it based on a strategy that can't really be replicated because it's author specific - the whole ymmv thing. Still others made it by utilizing gray hat tactics or buying their way to the top.

Business theory is pretty well understood these days, and Indies aren’t doing anything special. Even ‘writing to market’ is a decades-old concept. In fact, except for internet specific promotional initiatives, such as CPC or SEO, it's all Business 101. And I'm not picking on Indies here, most of the financially successful business owners I've known over the years, regardless of industry, couldn't find their ass with both hands when it came to understanding business. They made it in spite of themselves, and yet, routinely pontificate about their business acumen.

The point is, it’s just not that simple, and ‘your mileage may vary’ isn’t a possibility, it’s an absolute.

Publishing advice generally breaks down into 3 basic categories:

1. Social media, and how not to step in it
2. Internet promotional opportunities - this is constantly evolving and changing
3. Business 101 - Google Introduction to Marketing and read up. Dive deeper into segmentation and target markets, differentiation and competitive advantage, as well as consumer behavior. It’s no accident that Amazon’s ‘Buy’ button is orange. I highly recommend reading Mind of the Strategist by Kenichi Ohmae, 1983.

The trick to this always lies in the execution: putting it all together in a focused and targeted manner that elevates your specific brand above the noise. And for the record, it’s really tough to do. The real secret is to just keep banging your head against the wall, keep learning and failing until you get it right.

And then, of course, there’s the writing…

___


**The forum won't let me link to Wiki for some reason, but they have a good beginning analysis of all of the topics I noted above.

[She-la-te-da]

Yeah, don't feel bad. Sometimes GR says we screw up, even when we're following the rules. Luckily, I'd never heard of the site when I started publishing. I heard some horror stories after, though! Wow. Anyway, I was very careful when I signed up to only post where I was supposed to. I mostly hang out at Apocalypse Whenever, which was a faster-moving group years back, being a regular member for the most part. They let you promote in certain areas, and I think it got me some sales. Other than that, I just read and comment where I can.

The real secret is to just keep banging your head against the wall, keep learning and failing until you get it right.

People don't like to hear that, though. There must be some secret that no one will tell them, why not give them a lifetime education in writing and publishing in one short reply? SMH

[Feliz]

She-la-te-da, thanks for the encouragement and your experience. You know, the more I hear about there being horror stories on GR from more and more people, the more cautious I become. Though, that certainly isn't a bad thing, of course. I do feel better knowing that it's not necessarily just me. Ironically, I got a new TBR add from a reader there the other day for the same merman anthology I "spammed". So, it either blew over, went completely unnoticed, or I really did get all paranoid for no reason.

Also, why do many of us new writers think we're on the spotlight more than we really are? Maybe it's the paranoia of representing ourselves in a certain way that's contagious. We might be and feel like nobodies, but when we make mistakes, it sure as heck doesn't feel that way for however long it lasts, haha. Then, if and when we make it big(ger), we just laugh it off nostalgically. Ah, well. C'est la vie, eh?

[VanessaC]

Had my first public embarrassing moment as an author earlier - I'm sure there will be more to come.

On my phone, checking my Goodreads stats and very excited to see another rating for one of my books. Click on the book link for more info, but thanks to my fat fingers, I somehow find myself rating my own book. Yikes! And even worse, I gave myself four stars! 

So embarrassed - I could just imagine the tutting at an author reviewing her own book.

Then I thought I'd fixed it - you can remove books from your shelves and that seemed to be the way of deleting the rating - but of course Goodreads can take a while to update.

Seems to fixed now, thank goodness, but for about an hour this morning (UK time) I had rated my own book. And given myself four stars.

 

[PermaStudent]

I did it all early on. Seriously, any faux pas you can think of, I probably did it. I was young, had no experience, and hadn't found Kboards yet. Actually, a faux pas by my husband trying to "help me" promote my books by spamming on a forum got really nasty and led me to find Kboards.

Mistakes aren't all bad. You learn, you grow, you get better. I'm very forgiving of new authors for this reason. 

[Feliz]

VanessaC, yikes, that definitely sounds embarrassing and like something I'd have done. It's why I rate slowly and make sure I stare at the number of stars for an extra second. I also think the half-star system can be worse with that because it's so easy to downrate to a 4.5 when you really meant a 5. I'm so glad you fixed it, though.

PermaStudent, yeah, I think many of us newbies have definitely spammed our own books at some point because of our excitement for even writing them to begin with. It sucks that you had a nasty experience, but at the same time, it's great you got to discover Kboards because of this place existing from it. I too am forgiving of new authors because of empathy and relatability. Just make sure your husband learned, too!

I really like this positive energy going on where we can share and relate to things. I'm glad I created this thread. 

[She-la-te-da]

She-la-te-da, thanks for the encouragement and your experience. You know, the more I hear about there being horror stories on GR from more and more people, the more cautious I become. Though, that certainly isn't a bad thing, of course. I do feel better knowing that it's not necessarily just me. Ironically, I got a new TBR add from a reader there the other day for the same merman anthology I "spammed". So, it either blew over, went completely unnoticed, or I really did get all paranoid for no reason.

Also, why do many of us new writers think we're on the spotlight more than we really are? Maybe it's the paranoia of representing ourselves in a certain way that's contagious. We might be and feel like nobodies, but when we make mistakes, it sure as heck doesn't feel that way for however long it lasts, haha. Then, if and when we make it big(ger), we just laugh it off nostalgically. Ah, well. C'est la vie, eh?

Goodreads has some awesome communities for both readers and writers. If you follow the rules of the group, you'll be fine. I think many of the horror stories that are around stem mostly from authors who barged in and didn't bother to be contributing members, but just show up to spam their books. When they got blowback, they blame it on GR, when it was their own error.

I get that new people make mistakes. I can forgive some things, but not reading the rules? Not being respectful? No. It should be common sense to read rules, and follow them, to be considerate to other members. Being a new author doesn't excuse bad behavior. It's not that hard to lurk for a bit, read back on the forum to see what's going on.

Any way, I'm sure we'll continue to see folks messing up, doing dumb stuff, being pains in the butt. It's part of having new people find anything. As long as they learn, it's good. I make mistakes all the time, I just normally won't post about them, and thankfully most of them haven't been a big deal in any of the forums/groups I'm in. Whew! Lucky me. :D