Category Archives: Business

If you can’t take the heat…

Posted on October 27, 2011 | 10 comments

Well, my morning started off pretty good, and just took a nosedive into the crapper. What I am about to tell you should not upset me, it should not even matter to me, but it does…for so many reasons.

Yesterday I was directed to a Blog post by a relatively new author who is documenting the marketing journey. I read through the Blog and was impressed with the information the author shared. I did, however, notice a few things that were a little short on info. I took a little while and posted a comment. I did praise the author, but I also suggested a few things that I thought might be helpful, like adding the email contact to the Blog so people could contact the author without having to go through a public comment. I made a few other suggestions, nothing bad, nothing too serious, nothing out of line.

I went back in today to check on the blog and see what was new and I discovered that my post has been deleted. There was no moderation (I’m pretty sure the post went up straight away), it is just gone. The only posts left up are the posts that specifically praise the author. This makes me sad and it leads me to my point.

If you can’t take the heat in the publishing industry stop publishing books. If you don’t want people to post their true thoughts and comments on your Blog, then don’t Blog. I am certain there are things that should be deleted, but a helpful and supportive comment isn’t one of them…especially from a publisher (not just me, ANY publisher.

I am a publisher. I do have things to share, and some of them actually have some value. But I can tell you, after this, I will think long and hard before I share any suggestions or advice with others–even if I think it will help them. My husband often tells me I am too giving with my knowledge and experience and that I should just let people learn things themselves, the hard way, like I did. I am beginning to think he might be right. He says I will help anyone with anything, but when I need help, I always get the cold shoulder. I just tell him it is the way the business works. But today has made me realize that this is not how it should work. You get what you give and quite honestly, I’m kinda tired of giving and not getting anything back.

D.M. Anderson: I want to thank you for your comments this morning on my editing and to let you know how deeply they are appreciated. It makes this new bit of “life” a little easier to get past…in a minute…

You have earned a shameless plug for your book.

[OmniLit][Kindle][KindleUK][KindleGE][KindleFR]

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time. You should read for yourself!

10 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Business, Just for Fun, Marketing, Writing

Tagged business, D.M. ANderson, karen syed, Killer Cows, professionalism, publishing, respect, writers, Writing

Get the Hell Off My Stage

Posted on October 21, 2011 | 6 comments

Okay, it has been a while since I posted a note ranting about something that annoys me. Shocking, I know! Today’s rant was going to be about wonderful husbands who piss you off, but I am opting not to go that route at this point. Instead, I want to talk about Social Networking Etiquette.

If you know me, you know that I am a HUGE advocate for social networking, both for personal and professional purposes. When I’m not moving, I can almost always be found on either Facebook or Twitter (Tweetdeck). As a person, I find it very cool to interact and chat with others who may or may not share any common ground with me. Most of the news/current events I get are from Tweets. I don’t like to read the news or watch it on TV, but I probably need to know what is going on in the world, so I watch the tweets.

Click Cover to Buy eBook at Smashwords

My other favorite place to be is Facebook. I use this both personally (Family Tree connections) and for business. As a publisher and an author, it is crucial that people know me and what I write and publish. Facebook works for me. What doesn’t work for me is other authors who shake their groove thang on my stage. I do not go to other people’s pages and leave shameless snippets of promotion about my books. I just don’t do it. If I post to someone else’s wall it is either personal or something funny or awesome that I thought they would enjoy. I know for a fact that they would NOT enjoy me promoting Dark Shines My Love on their wall. It is much the same as you bringing your tuba playing son to my daughter’s ballet recital. Okay, your son may not play the tuba and I don’t have a daughter, but you see my point. Right?

So why would you friend me on Facebook and then start leaving links and excerpts for your book on my wall? Why? Do you want me to unfriend you? Do you do this to everyone? Leave a comment about something relative and add a link (one link) to your website, fine. I can live with that, even encourage it. But nothing more.

The other thing is groups. If I want to be a member of your group, I will seek it out and join. Do not take it upon yourself to add me to your group because you think I will enjoy it. I can promise you I won’t, and it will just make me post nasty comments about you. I know, not professional, but neither is assuming someone wants to do something without giving them a choice. Delete it, you say. Unjoin, you say. Why should I have to take that time out of my schedule to undo something I didn’t do in the first place?

I beg of you, please think things through before you do them online. It isn’t rocket science, it is just common courtesy.

So, now that I have ranted, tell me what you hate others to do on social networking sites.

6 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Business, Just for Fun

Is There a Right or Wrong?

Posted on October 19, 2011 | 5 comments

Jenny Milchman, all around great gal, has posted yet another insightful piece on the controversy surrounding the success of or potential world domination by Amazon.com [Amazon: E-volutionary or Reinventing the Wheel?]. Her post stemmed from yet another article in the NYT on the subject [Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal]. The response below is what I replied on her blog, but thought it deserved repeating.

I love what Amazon has done for the industry on both sides. I’ve shopped at Amazon for years and have loved its convenience. As for the publishing side, they have opened up new doors for so many writers and readers. They have offered a brighter shade of legitimacy to those not published by the legacies. The only problem is, booksellers don’t seem to get that it is not all or nothing. I know many booksellers think Amazon is the cause of them losing business, but I have said this before and I will say it again: lack of customer service is what drives business away, along with higher prices.

It is not Amazon’s fault it has more money to buy books at a lower per unit price. It is their good fortune to have that capital. What I have noticed over the last decade is that so many (not all by any means) indie booksellers have gotten angry at the industry that is shifting and growing around them, and have almost given up. They don’t offer the old-fashion kind of CS that takes them away from their desks/counters to lead a person to the book they are looking for. They don’t have time to be pleasant when someone comes in at the last minute before the store closes. And in so many cases (from my personal experiences) they are unwilling to carry, or even special order books from authors and publishers they “don’t like or support.” I cannot even count how many indie stores have refused to carry Echelon books or host our authors, or even special order because they don’t “consider” us a real publisher. {{insert colorful expletives here}}.

Things change and Amazon does so well because people simply don’t expect those things from a web site. Log on, get your stuff, log off, wait for delivery. No grumpy salespeople, no waiting in lines, nobody ramming their overloaded basket into the small of your back…over and over…and no traffic. They are very small prices to pay for not getting them in hand immediately. Most of us are okay with that if it saves us money.

Don’t dis Amazon because they are successful. You still have a choice. Don’t like what they do or how they do it, don’t shop with them. It’s pretty simple. But don’t make them out to be bad guys because they are good at what they do.