Shameless self promotion thread for authors

Welcome to LibraryThing, but unfortunately spam, even such an honest presentation as yours, is still spam, in my opinion anyway. Let's see what others think. As you seem to know already, there are other more acceptable ways for authors to promote their work on LibraryThing without violating the TOS.

ETA: This group was recommended by another author on LibraryThing as an appropriate place for your post: http://www.librarything.com/groups/writersbragandragbag

Best wishes,

k4k

#2> Let's see what others think.

Hi k4k,

I'm not one to endorse spam by any means, but somehow, I have a sympathy for this writer's position. The Writer's Brag and Rag Bag Group that you suggested is fine and well, but it's not Kindle-specific. Here we have an author who's trying to bring his book to the specific attention of Kindle owners, and there may not be a whole lot of them on the Writer's Brag and Rag Bag Group (or at least I know I'm not).

On the other hand, maybe there's something in the Terms of Service that would prohibit MichaelFStewart's post, and I don't want to encourage him to do anything to get himself in trouble. Maybe he ought to check this out with LibraryThing's management, but it does seem that what he's done here is a reasonable compromise, seeking to address himself specifically to Kindle owners but doing so on a thread that's very honest about what he's doing.

Awrrr, I dunno, I can see both points of view, but personally I'm not going to flag his post for abuse.

But MichaelFStewart, one thing you ought to be aware of is that I clicked on your Amazon link and I got a "404" page (document not found). You might have a bad link.

Hi CurrerBell,

I definitely understand your point of view. I may have been too hasty at this. I am sympathetic to people who want to promote their books. Perhaps somehow author promotion could be more prominent in LibraryThing so that authors and potential readers see it more easily? I am not sure what to suggest. Maybe long-time users will have some good ideas.

To MichaelFStewart, I apologize if this was hurtful, but I originally saw it as off-topic since I couldn't find a kindle version of the book. Maybe Abby could help with making authors more prominent. Also Tim might have some useful thoughts (0f course!).

k4k

#4> I originally saw it as off-topic since I couldn't find a kindle version of the book.

If there's no Kindle version, then I'd definitely see it as off-topic for this Board, and that's a very good point you make, k4k. As I pointed out to the original poster, I got a "404" page when I clicked on his link, so I don't even know whether there's a Kindle version or not.

#5> Actually, if you look at the Member give-away, he does say it's an ebook. I don't know about the amazon link, because I can't find it there. Maybe he thought they had it listed, but they don't. k4k

I'm sorry, everyone, I thought I'd deleted this thread. When I received K4K's comment, I immediately deleted it, but perhaps it didn't work.

In any case, I really appreciate the conversation. CurrerBell is right, in that, promoting without stepping on toes is tough work. And the reason why I set up this thread was to avoid that. I do apologize.

And, K4K, you're absolutely correct that I didn't realize I was violating Terms of Service either.

This is a Kindle thread so you really are my target market, and this was not the sort of first impression I had hoped to make.

Kindle does carry 24 Bones as does Fictionwise, and Mobipocket, etc. So I'll have to double check my links. Thanks for pointing that out.

All the best,

Michael F Stewart

For any authors interested in "having an impression."
My opinion of what is "shameless self promotion" is explained in another thread but this thread's topic is about impressions. Advertising your product requires having impressions made. However having an impression made is much different than making an impression and it doesn't guarantee someone that clicked on your Ad will purchase; it only means they have interest. Unfortunately you are doubled taxed. Double taxed because of a sales tax and a cost per click. The following information tells you where to go.

The internet is definitely a formidable form of marketing that is gaining much more use. Facebook and Twitter are only two names of social media that has vast global coverage. Everybody wants to use these “venues” to make Ads that promote their product. Logic or common sense tells one that part of this form of marketing includes large numbers of continuous impressions. However, many times you have to “pay per click.” Think of it as paying an additional tax on whatever product you are trying to promote, but because the individual “clicked” (shows interest) it doesn’t mean that they will follow through and buy instantly. I was fortunate to “stumble” onto a new service offered by Wpromote that doesn’t charge per click. I was skeptical but it was soon changed as I was easily able to contact a person both by phone and email. The key is that you have a one time payment for your choice of level advertising (minimal-very aggressive), demographic, and Ad preferred. For those that have further interest go to my site www.getting-therebook.com and click on their banner that’s within my page to get more info and/or started.