AKA: Self Promotion, Pimping, Attn W***ing, Etc.
Let’s talk about it...
You say, “Why? Why do you ask me these strange questions, Kate? Why not post Rob porn? That’s way more fun.”
Yes, Rob porn is always more fun. We’ll do that this weekend, k? ;)
In the meantime… let’s talk about Fic promotion.
Let’s be honest with ourselves here. I will argue that 99.99% of writers who post their work on the Internet want it to be read. If they didn’t, the words would sit on their hard drives into perpetuity. Writers want feedback. They want some kind of attention for their words and/or themselves. It’s important for a variety of reasons, right, wrong, whatever. We’re not talking about that part, lol. Let’s just acknowledge the truth that people want their stuff read.
Consider this campfire an opportunity to tell writers what works and what doesn’t as far as promoting their work goes. I think this is some useful information that maybe some people don’t have, especially people who are maybe newer to the fandom or who are just dipping their toes into writing and posting.
See, sometimes I see things that people do that make me shake my head, roll my eyes, and go “whatever”. Sometimes I see things that tick me off and I say to myself, “Well, that’s obnoxious. I’ll never read this person’s work.” And then other times, I see things that make me want to immediately seek out a writer’s work and devour it like candy.
Of course, this is all subjective. But I’m kind of thinking that some writers might be interested in how to best get their work out there.
1. Where do you pick up new stories? (In other words, where are good places to advertise?)
- Twitter recommendations?
- Teaser posts on ADF, The Fictionators, Edwardville, Other?
- Forums?
- Blog recommendations?
- Pimp / Rec campfires, threads, posts, other?
- Looking at other people’s favorites?
- Fic diving?
- Other?
2. Is it a turn off to see an author creating threads, posts, etc for themselves? What’s okay as far as self-promotion goes? Or should authors wait and let others pimp for them?
3. As far as others pimping stories for authors, what’s okay and what’s annoying? What are basic “rules” of etiquette that you think should be followed?
4. How effective are banners and other graphical “advertisements” in making you want to read?
5. What annoys you as far as story promotion goes? (Do not name names as specific examples)
6. At what point do you say, “Enough! OMG I know about this story already. Stop it.” In other words, what’s your saturation point?
7. If you could offer specific advice to an author on how to get more attention for their work, what would that be?
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A CAMPFIRE TO RECOMMEND STORIES. THERE ARE OTHER PIMPING CAMPFIRES FOR THAT. THIS IS A DISCUSSION ABOUT PIMPING METHODOLOGY.
Okay, fine, I can't post a campfire without a little Rob porn... It's a weakness.... so sue me. Unf... Cannes Rob is just lovely...
