Obviously, by the title of my post you can tell that I am aggravated. I am so sick of people assuming that I self-publish because no one would publish my fiction. That is bullshit. Okay, does that clear it up? I'm also sick of those who see I have a few self-pub titles out and decide to send me spam trying to get me to use their rip-off publishing services. I am NOT interested.
Ever since I started self-publishing my backlist titles (along with a few new books), I've been getting spam and insults. What the heck?
I've gotten everything from people wanting to charge me to have my books in print to others slamming me because they think I just "decided" that I could write and started putting out books. What jackasses, all of them.
In case it isn't already clear, I will explain how I came to this decision. And yes, it was MY decision to self-publish, not a last resort after years of rejection. In fact, I never suffered years of rejection. It only took me a few months to find my first publisher.
I was traditionally published for 5 years before I made the leap to produce my first self-published title. This was not a decision I came to lightly. I researched this for quite some time before deciding to give it a try.
Why did I look into self-publishing in the first place? Well, the major thing was I wasn't making enough money to live. My books were selling fairly well, but my cut of the royalties was barely enough to pay my light bill. Yes, I do this for a living, so that was a major factor. Of course I love what I do, but that doesn't mean I can afford to do it for free.
The second reason? Complete creative control was a thought that made me almost high with anticipation. To be able to tell the story that I want to tell regardless of "formula" was an exciting thought. However, that should not suggest that my stories are not edited. That's another HUGE misconception when it comes to self-published books. Not all are created equal. My books are thoroughly edited by myself at least four times before being sent to my writing partner/editor. She helps me check for plot holes as well as grammar and misspelled words. She is also highly qualified to do this. Though I consider her family, I didn't just pick my best friend to help me. If something doesn't sound right or is obviously wrong, she tells me. And I don't take it personally because I trust her. We work very well together.
So far I have only gotten one presumptuous email from another writer who thought one of my books was poorly edited. I looked it over again and found nothing wrong. Different editors ask for different things when it comes to sentence structure. That doesn't mean one way is right or wrong. If you want to use a semi-colon, go ahead. But most of my editors have asked that I use a comma instead. Oh, and just because you wrote a comic book, that doesn't qualify you to judge my novel.
I also do my own cover art. I hear lots of people getting slammed for this. I'm not just a cheap-ass author who doesn't want to pay a professional to do my covers. I AM a professional. So, why hire someone else to do what I can do at a fraction of the cost? I've been an avid reader almost as long as I've been an artist. I have faith in my abilities to create a cover that is visually pleasing as well as conveys the basic meaning of the story. I take pride and pleasure in being able to do this for myself.
After my first self-published title (Frank and The Werewolf Tamer) was received so well, I decided to self-publish my backlist titles. That's right, I DECIDED to do this. It wasn't forced on me. None of the books I have now self-published were rejected by ANY major (or small) publisher. I chose not to renew my contracts and to put the books back out on my own.
I've spent much of the past year working on this project. If anyone was wondering, this is why I haven't been releasing any new books. I've been working on re-editing, expanding, and re-releasing my backlist titles that are now coming off contract. This takes quite a bit of time and effort. It's as if I'm having to catch up on 5 years of work all at once.
My point is this was my choice and one that is so far working out very well. I was published with 3 different houses before I made this choice, and I still work with Ellora's Cave. I see no reason to burn bridges with a company what has treated me very well. I plan to continue to work with EC as well as to self-publish many more titles. Why? Because being published with them is helping new readers to find my work. It's all about marketing. Everything I do (with regards to my writing) is a business decision. Sure, I have strong feelings about some things, but my feelings are not what dominates my choices.
I hope this clears up any confusion. I earn 70% from Amazon sales as compared to 30-40% from an epublisher. (That's just a rough estimate based on my experience.) My books are also listed on Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and just about anywhere else you can think of. I do this all myself. It isn't difficult, so I can't see paying someone to do it for me. This way, if something is incorrect, I can fix it on my own. I keep track of sales quickly and easily, so I know what my paycheck is going to be for the next month. I don't have to wait for a statement.
Self-publishing is convenient and profitable. Yes, there's a lot of work involved, but I love what I do. Why shouldn't I be able to make a living at it? I'm not rich by any means, but thanks to the higher percentages of self-pub sales, I can actually pay my bills.
Showing posts with label traditional publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label traditional publishing. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Monday, April 9, 2012
Should you self-publish AND do your own cover art?
As some of you might know, I've been practicing "un-plugging." That's where (in my case) you check your email and then don't go near the computer for the rest of the day. It's been wonderful.
However, today I browsed a forum online that was discussing the pros and cons of a few topics I feel do not have a clear answer. What I mean is, the answer is different for everyone.
The first topic I stumbled across was more of a listing of cons than a discussion. It was someone stating how an author should NEVER do their own cover art. Their reasoning was that an author didn't know the proper size for the image and didn't know how to blend backgrounds. They also said that authors would only use standard fonts that came with the software they were using and that these fonts were boring.
Although I understand their point (there are lots of examples of this on Amazon) I disagree that you should always hire a cover artist. There are many authors out there who do an amazing job on their own cover art. Mandy Roth and Michelle Pillow are two that come to mind. Just because you write doesn't mean you don't have other talents.
I don't think I've done too badly on the covers for my self-pub titles either. I created the look I wanted and that as a reader would attract my attention. That can't be all bad. I also didn't use "standard" font. I found something that I believed conveyed the mood of the story. I took everything into consideration. The initial cover image, the background, the colors, fonts, placement of fonts, how it would look in a thumbnail on Amazon, as well as how it would look on the front of a print copy.
In this same forum someone also said that they thought it was expensive to hire a cover artist. Someone else replied (snidely I thought) that, "If you think $50-100 is expensive, then yes." Um, it isn't cheap. If you've been affected by this economy the way many have and need to carefully plan your budget, you don't have $50-100 to just throw around. I'll admit I don't. Now that is a very rough estimate. Some artists will do covers for less and some charge more. I also respect the fact that they need to make a living as well. I'm simply saying that from my point of view, it is an expense that doesn't make sense.
I also respect the fact that not everyone is comfortable or has the desire to do their own cover art. However, if you CAN do it and do it well, then I say go for it.
Another hot topic I stumbled across in these forums was the old argument of self-published vs. traditional. This decision is personal to each individual and depends on lots of factors. Many argue the point that if you use a traditional publisher, you don't have to do all the marketing yourself. Um, wrong. While publishers will do some small amount of advertising, they generally advertise their company and not individual authors. I don't blame them. Who could afford to advertise for EVERY author in a big house? For the cover of your book to even be included in a big ad, you generally need to be established with the house and your books need to be selling pretty well.
I'm not knocking publishers for this at all. It makes good business sense. I'm just pointing out that the idea of, "I'll get a contract and then someone else will do the rest of the work," is way off base.
Regardless of whether you self or traditionally publish, there is marketing to be done. Lots and lots of it. It can be overwhelming and even depressing at times. Then again, there are some publishers who will put your book up for sale and never advertise it at all. It just sits there looking pretty on their site. In these cases, uploading it to Amazon and letting it just sit THERE looking pretty might get your title more visibility based on location alone. It's a lot to consider.
Another point made was that everyone needs an editor. I agree. No one is perfect. I'm a better writer because of the editors I've worked with and I'm grateful for that. That is why I continue to traditionally publish as well as dipping my toes into self-pub. For my self-published titles, I have someone who helps me edit. I'm lucky to know someone who is so good at this. I also use test readers from time to time to check everything about the story I can think of that needs to be checked.
In this same forum (which I don't plan to read any more LOL) someone was expressing their opinion about the importance of reviews. They believed that people religiously checked book reviews just as they do movie reviews before purchase and that reviews were therefore VERY important.
While I understand their point and see where it is entirely reasonable for someone to have this opinion, I disagree. I never read movie reviews unless I've already seen the film, hated it, and want to see if others agree. Ha. Ha. Sad, but true. Movie reviews, just like most film trailers these days, ruin the plot for me. I do not appreciate spoilers.
Now, back to the subject of books. I agree that an honest review is a very nice thing to take into consideration before a purchase. However, those are getting harder and harder to find. As I've often shared my opinions on this topic here, I'm not going to get into a rant. I promise. Many sites that allow for reviews to be posted will let people say anything. Reviews have become the place for the author to be bashed, not the book. Rather than sharing honest points they liked or disliked and the reasoning behind it, many "reviewers" just sling insults and bad language. They seem to be of the opinion that being rude means they're being honest. No, it just means they are an ass with no consideration for others and no respect for themselves.
Now, I'm reeling in that rant like I promised. My point is, I don't put a lot of faith in reviews in general. That's not to say that there aren't some REVIEWERS whose opinions I trust and value. THAT is a different matter entirely. I'm talking about the general subject of reviews.
It's too easy for people who haven't even read a book to go online and trash it and the author. Likewise, it's just as easy for someone to get their friends to write 5 star reviews.
Thanks to the advice of a fellow author, I've stopped reading reviews unless someone emails me a link. You wouldn't believe how much my stress levels have dropped when I stopped obsessing over every little thing other people say. Sure, public opinion is important. I don't mean to dismiss that. Readers send me positive letters all the time to let me know I'm on track. I listen to THEM. I write for THEM. Know what I mean?
The decision to self-publish or not isn't an easy one. It's also not easy to decide what to do about cover art. Here are my closing thoughts on both topics. Hopefully, they will be of some help.
If you are computer savy, formatting an ebook (or print book) isn't that difficult.
Photoshop is pretty user friendly. There are many videos on youtube that can teach you the basics.
Just because you have a contract with a publisher, doesn't mean your part of the deal is finished. There is still work to do regardless of which route you choose.
With self-publishing you get a larger percentage of your profits.
With self-publishing you have complete creative control. Don't let it go to your head. This makes it easier to tell the story you want to tell. However, it also makes it easier to publish crap.
Here are examples of cover art I've done myself. I'm proud of them. :)
As always, I hope some of this is helpful to you in your publishing adventures. :)
However, today I browsed a forum online that was discussing the pros and cons of a few topics I feel do not have a clear answer. What I mean is, the answer is different for everyone.
The first topic I stumbled across was more of a listing of cons than a discussion. It was someone stating how an author should NEVER do their own cover art. Their reasoning was that an author didn't know the proper size for the image and didn't know how to blend backgrounds. They also said that authors would only use standard fonts that came with the software they were using and that these fonts were boring.
Although I understand their point (there are lots of examples of this on Amazon) I disagree that you should always hire a cover artist. There are many authors out there who do an amazing job on their own cover art. Mandy Roth and Michelle Pillow are two that come to mind. Just because you write doesn't mean you don't have other talents.
I don't think I've done too badly on the covers for my self-pub titles either. I created the look I wanted and that as a reader would attract my attention. That can't be all bad. I also didn't use "standard" font. I found something that I believed conveyed the mood of the story. I took everything into consideration. The initial cover image, the background, the colors, fonts, placement of fonts, how it would look in a thumbnail on Amazon, as well as how it would look on the front of a print copy.
In this same forum someone also said that they thought it was expensive to hire a cover artist. Someone else replied (snidely I thought) that, "If you think $50-100 is expensive, then yes." Um, it isn't cheap. If you've been affected by this economy the way many have and need to carefully plan your budget, you don't have $50-100 to just throw around. I'll admit I don't. Now that is a very rough estimate. Some artists will do covers for less and some charge more. I also respect the fact that they need to make a living as well. I'm simply saying that from my point of view, it is an expense that doesn't make sense.
I also respect the fact that not everyone is comfortable or has the desire to do their own cover art. However, if you CAN do it and do it well, then I say go for it.
Another hot topic I stumbled across in these forums was the old argument of self-published vs. traditional. This decision is personal to each individual and depends on lots of factors. Many argue the point that if you use a traditional publisher, you don't have to do all the marketing yourself. Um, wrong. While publishers will do some small amount of advertising, they generally advertise their company and not individual authors. I don't blame them. Who could afford to advertise for EVERY author in a big house? For the cover of your book to even be included in a big ad, you generally need to be established with the house and your books need to be selling pretty well.
I'm not knocking publishers for this at all. It makes good business sense. I'm just pointing out that the idea of, "I'll get a contract and then someone else will do the rest of the work," is way off base.
Regardless of whether you self or traditionally publish, there is marketing to be done. Lots and lots of it. It can be overwhelming and even depressing at times. Then again, there are some publishers who will put your book up for sale and never advertise it at all. It just sits there looking pretty on their site. In these cases, uploading it to Amazon and letting it just sit THERE looking pretty might get your title more visibility based on location alone. It's a lot to consider.
Another point made was that everyone needs an editor. I agree. No one is perfect. I'm a better writer because of the editors I've worked with and I'm grateful for that. That is why I continue to traditionally publish as well as dipping my toes into self-pub. For my self-published titles, I have someone who helps me edit. I'm lucky to know someone who is so good at this. I also use test readers from time to time to check everything about the story I can think of that needs to be checked.
In this same forum (which I don't plan to read any more LOL) someone was expressing their opinion about the importance of reviews. They believed that people religiously checked book reviews just as they do movie reviews before purchase and that reviews were therefore VERY important.
While I understand their point and see where it is entirely reasonable for someone to have this opinion, I disagree. I never read movie reviews unless I've already seen the film, hated it, and want to see if others agree. Ha. Ha. Sad, but true. Movie reviews, just like most film trailers these days, ruin the plot for me. I do not appreciate spoilers.
Now, back to the subject of books. I agree that an honest review is a very nice thing to take into consideration before a purchase. However, those are getting harder and harder to find. As I've often shared my opinions on this topic here, I'm not going to get into a rant. I promise. Many sites that allow for reviews to be posted will let people say anything. Reviews have become the place for the author to be bashed, not the book. Rather than sharing honest points they liked or disliked and the reasoning behind it, many "reviewers" just sling insults and bad language. They seem to be of the opinion that being rude means they're being honest. No, it just means they are an ass with no consideration for others and no respect for themselves.
Now, I'm reeling in that rant like I promised. My point is, I don't put a lot of faith in reviews in general. That's not to say that there aren't some REVIEWERS whose opinions I trust and value. THAT is a different matter entirely. I'm talking about the general subject of reviews.
It's too easy for people who haven't even read a book to go online and trash it and the author. Likewise, it's just as easy for someone to get their friends to write 5 star reviews.
Thanks to the advice of a fellow author, I've stopped reading reviews unless someone emails me a link. You wouldn't believe how much my stress levels have dropped when I stopped obsessing over every little thing other people say. Sure, public opinion is important. I don't mean to dismiss that. Readers send me positive letters all the time to let me know I'm on track. I listen to THEM. I write for THEM. Know what I mean?
The decision to self-publish or not isn't an easy one. It's also not easy to decide what to do about cover art. Here are my closing thoughts on both topics. Hopefully, they will be of some help.
If you are computer savy, formatting an ebook (or print book) isn't that difficult.
Photoshop is pretty user friendly. There are many videos on youtube that can teach you the basics.
Just because you have a contract with a publisher, doesn't mean your part of the deal is finished. There is still work to do regardless of which route you choose.
With self-publishing you get a larger percentage of your profits.
With self-publishing you have complete creative control. Don't let it go to your head. This makes it easier to tell the story you want to tell. However, it also makes it easier to publish crap.
Here are examples of cover art I've done myself. I'm proud of them. :)
As always, I hope some of this is helpful to you in your publishing adventures. :)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Patience might be a virtue, especially in marketing
But that doesn't mean I have any. For those of you out there working on writing your first book, there's something else staring you in the face. Something you may not have thought of. PROMOTION AND MARKETING. Basically, they're the same thing. Call it what you will, it's driving me crazy.
Many people are still under the false impression that a publishing company covers all of the costs of marketing. They believe that all they have to do is turn in their book and POOF it magically gets advertised. Um...WRONG.
Even if you're already a big name in the industry, not ALL of your promotional efforts will be paid for or arranged by your publisher.
And if your an indie author you're totally on your own. You are responsible for many things you might not think of as marketing, but it is. Such as the presentation of your book. This includes the layout and text (does it look professional, free from errors and typos, etc.,), the blurb (Is your book description interesting?) and the cover art. People DO judge books by their covers and this part is crucial.
Not only are all those things vitally important, they are just the bare minimum.
What I know I want to know and I'm sure many others are asking is, "What really works?" I really wish I knew. As both a traditionally published and independent author, I'm still struggling to figure this out after 4 1/2 years in the business.
Here's a rundown of my efforts. (based solely on my opinions and observations) I will share what I believe worked and didn't work so far.
Print ads - One of the first things I did when my first book came out was start looking into print advertisement. I researched where (which kinds of magazines) my readers (target audience) were most likely to find me. After all, it wouldn't do much good to place an ad in a magazine romance readers would never see.
I took part in a joint ad with other authors in Realms of Fantasy. (By the way, that magazine is now out of business.) At the time it had a good reach and was distributed in many local bookstores. To me, that was a plus.
The ad cost me $120. It looked nice and I was very proud. However, the first QUARTER of royalties from my first book only earned me around $450.
Being short on cash, I didn't try this again. However, one of my publishers was kind enough to choose another book of mine to place in an ad that they paid for in Romantic Times Magazine the year before last. Sales for the book in question were low, despite the fact that the ad (which I couldn't have afforded) was beautiful.
Print ads are impressive, but in my opinion, they are a total waste of money.
Online ads - There are a wide variety of these available. Some work and some don't. In my experience the cheaper ads pay off more as you don't have much invested. Plus, I'm working on a nonexistent budget.
I've put a $5 ad up at Coffee Time Romance on several occasions and saw an over all jump in sales for the quarter in which the ads appeared. It was a small jump. We're talking about 50 copies above average for the entire quarter. Not big at all, but well worth $5.
The biggest return I ever saw on an ad was in ARe's newsletter. (All Romance Ebooks) I placed a cover ad for $15. I think the price has changed since then. I sold 84 copies of the book in question THAT WEEK. The combined sales for the month on the title I advertised alone was $238 above what they had been the month before. That's for the MONTH and not the quarter. Of course, this book was also with a larger publisher. That could have made a difference as well. However, at the time the title had been out for over a year.
In my opinion, ads in online magazines and forums are well worth the price.
As for social networks - I have no idea if promoting on social networks pays off or not. My thing is, I don't want to spam people. I took part in Triberr for a little over a month and ended up dropping out of a very large tribe. For those not familiar with Triberr, basically it's a way to have lots of people re-tweet your blog posts all over Twitter. Yes, that's really simplified, but it suits the purposes of this post. Many of the people in my tribe didn't post about topics of interest to my twitter followers. Sure, I picked up about 100 followers, but I also lost a lot. They felt like they were being spammed and I must agree. I've stopped following people who's Twitter feeds are nothing but non-stop advertisement.
Maybe a much smaller tribe with a focus on paranormal romance might work. Who knows? On the whole, I found Triberr to be a huge pain in the butt. I'm still in 2 very small tribes about marketing for authors.
Facebook - I have a fan page and a personal page. I've heard many experts say how you should keep your personal page seperate. I think that's bull. I don't post anything on Facebook that I wouldn't say in public. I'm not one of those people. I don't have drunken pictures or lots of F-bombs or photos of my family so that someone can stalk them. LOL I'm there to network. If I happen to find an old friend from school, great.
The idea of seperation might work for those in a different industry, but not for me. In my case, I think it would be counterproductive. I am what I do. I write. I am a writer. What the hell difference would there be in my pages? Not much. I talk more on my personal page than I do on my fan page. The fan page is mostly for updates on books and blog posts.
Sure, I post links where my books can be purchased. But that's not the only thing I post. Does it work? Who knows.
Myspace - This is almost totally pointless as everyone has migrated to Facebook. However, I keep it updated with new statuses through Ping.fm. This lovely little service updates all your social networks at once:) I've got mine set to update my Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, and Yahoo accounts all at once.
Goodreads - Many people swear by this. I'm not one of them. I do have an author page at GR and I have rated a few books, but not many. I have my page set up so that the RSS feed from my blog shows up there, giving me a chance to reach a larger audience. The reason I don't go to GR often is simple, I feel unwelcome. Many of the reviews there (and not just for my books) are mean-spirited and just flat rude. It seems to be a hangout for the more venmous to converge. Now if you're on GR and are a nice person, don't be offended. I'm sure there ARE nice people there. I've met one or two. But like I said, not many.
Linkedin - I have an account, but haven't taken the time to get to know how it works. I have too much to do as it is!
Amazon forums - See my opinion about Goodreads. It applies here as well. AUTHORS ARE NOT WELCOME ON AMAZON FORUMS. DO NOT GO THERE.
Yahoo groups - I have one of these too. I'm also a member of many. I chat occasionally and post about my books. Does it work? I have no idea. I visit yahoo groups less and less often as I'm beginning to believe they do nothing at all for sales.
Coffee Time Romance forums - I'm not sure if these boost my sales or not, but I love the people there. I would go just for fun, even if it didn't help me sell more books. Plus, you get to update your signature line with your latest book info. Everyone who sees your signature is another potential customer, right?
Wow. I'm exhausted just LOOKING at this post. LOL I'm certain I've left things out, because I'm constantly marketing.
Oh, I've also got a Website and (you know this because you're reading it) a Blog.
I've done this post to try to help my fellow authors who are out there wondering what works. As I search for the answers to the same question, I'll share my findings with you.
And just in case you're interested, here are the links to where you can find me.
Website - http://www.traceyhkitts.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/traceyhkitts/info#!/pages/Tracey-H-Kitts/73968579374
Twitter - https://twitter.com/#!/traceyhkitts
My Coffee Time Author Area - http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=1394
I'd like to finish with some words of wisdom. As a very wise editor once told me, the very best promotion is writing another good book. Now that, I can handle:)
Many people are still under the false impression that a publishing company covers all of the costs of marketing. They believe that all they have to do is turn in their book and POOF it magically gets advertised. Um...WRONG.
Even if you're already a big name in the industry, not ALL of your promotional efforts will be paid for or arranged by your publisher.
And if your an indie author you're totally on your own. You are responsible for many things you might not think of as marketing, but it is. Such as the presentation of your book. This includes the layout and text (does it look professional, free from errors and typos, etc.,), the blurb (Is your book description interesting?) and the cover art. People DO judge books by their covers and this part is crucial.
Not only are all those things vitally important, they are just the bare minimum.
What I know I want to know and I'm sure many others are asking is, "What really works?" I really wish I knew. As both a traditionally published and independent author, I'm still struggling to figure this out after 4 1/2 years in the business.
Here's a rundown of my efforts. (based solely on my opinions and observations) I will share what I believe worked and didn't work so far.
Print ads - One of the first things I did when my first book came out was start looking into print advertisement. I researched where (which kinds of magazines) my readers (target audience) were most likely to find me. After all, it wouldn't do much good to place an ad in a magazine romance readers would never see.
I took part in a joint ad with other authors in Realms of Fantasy. (By the way, that magazine is now out of business.) At the time it had a good reach and was distributed in many local bookstores. To me, that was a plus.
The ad cost me $120. It looked nice and I was very proud. However, the first QUARTER of royalties from my first book only earned me around $450.
Being short on cash, I didn't try this again. However, one of my publishers was kind enough to choose another book of mine to place in an ad that they paid for in Romantic Times Magazine the year before last. Sales for the book in question were low, despite the fact that the ad (which I couldn't have afforded) was beautiful.
Print ads are impressive, but in my opinion, they are a total waste of money.
Online ads - There are a wide variety of these available. Some work and some don't. In my experience the cheaper ads pay off more as you don't have much invested. Plus, I'm working on a nonexistent budget.
I've put a $5 ad up at Coffee Time Romance on several occasions and saw an over all jump in sales for the quarter in which the ads appeared. It was a small jump. We're talking about 50 copies above average for the entire quarter. Not big at all, but well worth $5.
The biggest return I ever saw on an ad was in ARe's newsletter. (All Romance Ebooks) I placed a cover ad for $15. I think the price has changed since then. I sold 84 copies of the book in question THAT WEEK. The combined sales for the month on the title I advertised alone was $238 above what they had been the month before. That's for the MONTH and not the quarter. Of course, this book was also with a larger publisher. That could have made a difference as well. However, at the time the title had been out for over a year.
In my opinion, ads in online magazines and forums are well worth the price.
As for social networks - I have no idea if promoting on social networks pays off or not. My thing is, I don't want to spam people. I took part in Triberr for a little over a month and ended up dropping out of a very large tribe. For those not familiar with Triberr, basically it's a way to have lots of people re-tweet your blog posts all over Twitter. Yes, that's really simplified, but it suits the purposes of this post. Many of the people in my tribe didn't post about topics of interest to my twitter followers. Sure, I picked up about 100 followers, but I also lost a lot. They felt like they were being spammed and I must agree. I've stopped following people who's Twitter feeds are nothing but non-stop advertisement.
Maybe a much smaller tribe with a focus on paranormal romance might work. Who knows? On the whole, I found Triberr to be a huge pain in the butt. I'm still in 2 very small tribes about marketing for authors.
Facebook - I have a fan page and a personal page. I've heard many experts say how you should keep your personal page seperate. I think that's bull. I don't post anything on Facebook that I wouldn't say in public. I'm not one of those people. I don't have drunken pictures or lots of F-bombs or photos of my family so that someone can stalk them. LOL I'm there to network. If I happen to find an old friend from school, great.
The idea of seperation might work for those in a different industry, but not for me. In my case, I think it would be counterproductive. I am what I do. I write. I am a writer. What the hell difference would there be in my pages? Not much. I talk more on my personal page than I do on my fan page. The fan page is mostly for updates on books and blog posts.
Sure, I post links where my books can be purchased. But that's not the only thing I post. Does it work? Who knows.
Myspace - This is almost totally pointless as everyone has migrated to Facebook. However, I keep it updated with new statuses through Ping.fm. This lovely little service updates all your social networks at once:) I've got mine set to update my Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, and Yahoo accounts all at once.
Goodreads - Many people swear by this. I'm not one of them. I do have an author page at GR and I have rated a few books, but not many. I have my page set up so that the RSS feed from my blog shows up there, giving me a chance to reach a larger audience. The reason I don't go to GR often is simple, I feel unwelcome. Many of the reviews there (and not just for my books) are mean-spirited and just flat rude. It seems to be a hangout for the more venmous to converge. Now if you're on GR and are a nice person, don't be offended. I'm sure there ARE nice people there. I've met one or two. But like I said, not many.
Linkedin - I have an account, but haven't taken the time to get to know how it works. I have too much to do as it is!
Amazon forums - See my opinion about Goodreads. It applies here as well. AUTHORS ARE NOT WELCOME ON AMAZON FORUMS. DO NOT GO THERE.
Yahoo groups - I have one of these too. I'm also a member of many. I chat occasionally and post about my books. Does it work? I have no idea. I visit yahoo groups less and less often as I'm beginning to believe they do nothing at all for sales.
Coffee Time Romance forums - I'm not sure if these boost my sales or not, but I love the people there. I would go just for fun, even if it didn't help me sell more books. Plus, you get to update your signature line with your latest book info. Everyone who sees your signature is another potential customer, right?
Wow. I'm exhausted just LOOKING at this post. LOL I'm certain I've left things out, because I'm constantly marketing.
Oh, I've also got a Website and (you know this because you're reading it) a Blog.
I've done this post to try to help my fellow authors who are out there wondering what works. As I search for the answers to the same question, I'll share my findings with you.
And just in case you're interested, here are the links to where you can find me.
Website - http://www.traceyhkitts.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/traceyhkitts/info#!/pages/Tracey-H-Kitts/73968579374
Twitter - https://twitter.com/#!/traceyhkitts
My Coffee Time Author Area - http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=1394
I'd like to finish with some words of wisdom. As a very wise editor once told me, the very best promotion is writing another good book. Now that, I can handle:)
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