Capybara
First, I think I’m dealing with one of the most aggressive pieces of ice ever. Not outside, but in my drink (seltzer). This thing keeps rising over my lip to get at my nose and it’s very frustrating.
Second, an important message for other indie authors. I hope I don’t come off as mean or egotistical here, but I think this is important. Please DO NOT promote on another author’s blog or FB promo post without talking to them. I’ve had this happen a few times over the last few months. I’ll post on an FB group and another author will promote their book within the comments. Personally, I don’t think this helps you and might cause more trouble. It’s rude and pushy. It is so much easier to contact the author and ask if they would be willing to make a separate post or shout out for your book. Offer to do the same for them and you’ve made a friend. Slip behind their back to post your book on their promotion and you’ve annoyed someone. I have no problem helping others, but I want to be talked to first.
Let’s move on to the simple goals of this week:
- Continue recovering from stomach bug. Barely eaten in the last 2 days.
- Continue writing Curse of the Dark Wind.
- Continue promoting Allure of the Gypsies.
- Find something to do that isn’t a continuation of last week.
I’m really in a ‘stay the course’ pattern right now. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing at this stage. Makes me feel kind of boring.
Legends of Windemere 
Sometime boring is good. Especially if it is healthy and boring. Get well soon.
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Thanks. I guess boring can be good. I’m just feeling like I should say more interesting things here.
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With a stomach bug that new title sounds prophetic 😉
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Only way it could be funnier is if I got a respiratory infection instead. 😛
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🙂
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Oh, I do hope your stomach feels better!
I do agree about promotion, it is very rude to what you described. Writers are supposed to be a community of friends, at least that’s how I imagine it, and I think promotions would work better if authors would ask and sort of, promote together.
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Thanks. I’m back on solid food, so I’m almost out of the woods. 🙂
I’ve actually ignored it when it’s on an FB Group promo, but a few authors did the same on my personal FB page promos. That feels like a major violation to me. Guess some people don’t realize this is better as a team sport instead of solo adventuring.
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Its the scrupuls, nothing else, but if we don’t say anything about it, it’s just gonna become more and more prevalent
I am glad about the food, full author is better then a hungry author!
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I’m at a loss on what to do when it happens on FB. Part of me wonders if the author is doing it to start a small fight for publicity. After all, if they’re willing to hijack a promo post for a book outside of their genre then I don’t put much by them.
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I couldn’t agree about writers back dooring it more. As a reader, when I see comments like that it turns me off completely.
Hope you feel better soon. Sick is never good
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My worry is that it does something to the original promo. Like it looks sloppy or the first author is up to something for not handling the second.
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I completely agree with you, regarding the self-promotion, no matter where you are, what the topic is about,etc.
I know self-promotion is important, regardless of whether you were traditionally or self-published, but when I see authors promoting themselves without taking into account the context in which that promotion occurs, it simply causes me to make a mental note not to read their work.
Also – sorry about the ice cube. That sounds really f@$king annoying.
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I got the last laugh on the ice cube. It melted. 🙂
I’m always toiling over my daily promotions to make them humorous and topical to what I’m writing. The authors that have tried to piggyback me aren’t even in the same genre. That’s just confusing to me.
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I have a phobia for the stomach bug because it usually means intense vomiting for me, which I have a phobia of as well.
Also, I had a similar problem with an author slipping behind my back, but it was an event I was holding on FB about giving away review copies of my book. Some author decided to sneak in, steal everyone’s addresses, and e-mail those people a review copy of her book–and it was the third in a trilogy!
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I share your phobia.
Wow. I really shouldn’t be so amazed at that, but it’s a move that makes me wonder what the person was thinking. A promo post is one thing, but to hijack an event and send copies of your book? That’s amazing and not in a good way.
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I didn’t even know about it! My friend/assistant was managing the event and had to be the one to tell me. Then someone who had joined the event contacted me and let me know who did it. I didn’t say anything to the person in question because I think my friend had already taken care of it, and I didn’t want to start accusing anyone of anything and breed bad blood among the author community.
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That’s the problem I fall into. It’s an awkward situation because it’s irritating, but you don’t want to start a fight.
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That is beyond rude. Like Pamela said, it turns me off and in the back of my mind I make a note to never read that persons book.
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That sounds like common sense. Why can’t people see that?
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Because common sense is so rare now it should be a super power.
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I hope you feel better soon. (Unfortunately, the people who wouldn’t promote on your promo don’t need to be told, and those who do probably wouldn’t be affected by it. Even so, it still needed to be said.)
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It was definitely more to get it off my chest. I should be back to my books tomorrow or even tonight if I’m lucky.
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See.. this just confirms that I live in a bubble. I had NO idea that people did this! How rude. Either that or I am not important enough for anyone to hijack my FB – that’s probably what it is LOL 🙂
Glad you are on the mend. 🙂
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Probably a good thing that you didn’t know about this. It’s not fun. 🙂
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I am thinking what Jade said is one way to look at it. That someone thinks enough of you to piggyback your posts. I also agree with others that it is a turnoff. I have seen on facebook in some of the groups, people posting their book link in the comments of someone else’s post. At best it looks amateurish, at worst it is rude, tacky and lazy. I can’t even imagine why someone would link their book to a post outside of their genre. What would be the point?
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I wondered this and came to this realization. I’ve seen it mostly on books that have debuted or are on sale. There is a higher chance of these posts getting looked at than other posts. So, they are hoping to get a little attention on their book by being seen on the debut/sale post. Think of it like a person dancing behind a news reporter when they see the camera is rolling.
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Got cha. I suppose they think they are being clever.
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I would hope so. If not then they’re a strange lot. 🙂
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Go for boring … it won’t last long and it may help you recover faster. I agree with everyone here about backdoor self-promoting. What amazes me is that the people doing it don’t see that they may actually be hurting themselves. When I see it happen, I don’t consider it a reflection on the original host. You can’t keep out every troll that rolls by.
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Thanks. I’m taking it easy today and tomorrow. At least I’m not tackling the bike. Boring shall be the flavor of the week. At least until I can order a pizza.
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Yea, pizza! (I love pizza :))
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Good advice about being wise (rather than sneaky) about promotion. I hope you’re feeling better.
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Holding up.
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