This morning I awoke to 300 emails, even though I'm on digest. I skim the digests, but all I see in the subject line are: excerpt, promo, contest, new release. OMG, it seems that everyone who was a "reader" when I first started this venture is now an author. I spent several hours yesterday at Love Romance Cafe's big bash and anything I posted was lost in the avalanche of emails. I pictured authors everywhere huddled at their computers, vying desperately for the attention of a "reader." Yes, I know authors read, too. I do, but I'm looking to tap into someone who isn't competition. Is that selfish? I don't think so. All who have books available are hoping to find the mother lode of readers and achieve a best-selling status. Honestly, it's more like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
As much as I want to support my fellow authors, if I visited every blog to which I've been invited, I would never get anything else done. So how logical am I if I expect my fellow authors to visit mine?
I've already given up Farmville on Facebook, taken a leave of absence from my critique group, gone on digest for most of my yahoo loops, and tried to find a new avenue of promotion on the Amazon Communities, only to be beaten to a pulp by some of the folks there who are very territorial. It seems there are those who don't like authors who talk about their own work. What's up with that? If I don't, who will? I still crave Farmville, but I'm staying strong. I imagine my crops have all withered and died, and I've probably been reported for cruelty to my animals. I'm sure my farm is generally in bad repair, but there's no way I can have a look without wanting to fix everything. At least I kicked the habit on my own and didn't need counseling.
Honestly, the towel is looking pretty good lately. I've considered throwing it in a few times, or at least waving a white flag, but I'm too invested in my love of writing to quit. I keep visiting shared links and viewing success stories written by authors who had sold hundreds if not thousands of copies on Kindle. I want to post that announcement just once.I have several new releases in 2011, so maybe one of them will be my ticket to stardom... well at least a few sales. :)
I've become somewhat ruthless with the emails, too. If someone has something important to say, they need to make sure they aren't using an old 'thread'.
ReplyDeleteI hope 2011 is a spectacular year for you Ginger!
Ginger I so sympathise, I had to kick Farmville into touch as well because I had begun to spend more time on it than my writing - which was bad! As for the e-mails, I sometimes wonder how mailing a list of other authors to announce a new review or a contract is helping your career-it's not as if they are going to buy your book, they are too busy pushing their own - and yet so much time is expended doing exactly that. Where do we find the readers?
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