Spamming and Authors

Do you ever get tired of seeing the same thing on the same space over and over again. I know I do. And authors are becoming as guilty of this as the viagra people. I've noticed in the last few months that more and more authors are updating their status ten, twenty, thirty times a day. This, of course, puts their book picture up there on the status page. Does this make me more interested in seeing what they have to say? Actually it has the opposite effect on me. I become immune to them. Seeing the picture I simply move on past it without even reading what they have to say.

Advertising and promotion are a must for ever author. But when does it become spamming? When does it become obnoxious? Did you join my site just for self-promotion? Do you join other sites, not because you have a true interest in getting to know people, talk with people and share ideas, or was it just to promote yourself?

I blog almost every day. I try at times to touch on subjects I believe will interest other people. I share my writing, my morning muses and marketing and promotional tips. I join groups I have an interest in the subject matter. And I try, and forgive me if I fail, to never spam the members of my groups. I now post my status change on my myspace once a day. In the mornings usually. I post only one blog, and hope that my friends enjoy that. I also visit the pages of my friends and try to read their blogs. Their writing. Share their lives.

With the vast amount of internet information out there, and the vast number of new authors published daily, spamming has become an accepted promotional tool. I hate it. And I hope I never feel I have to come to that level just to sell a book.

A better way to me is to study your market. Send out queries to those who may truly have an interest in the type of book you've written. Let people get to know you. In the end, you'll do just as well. And perhaps you may even do better.