Monday, September 27, 2010

Web presence, blog tours and social sites for authors




Two of my favorite blogs seem to be taking two sides of an argument, with regards to authors promoting their books:

Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief, was the guest on Shrinking Violets Promotions yesterday, and she doesn't care for authors using social sites to promote their books. She doesn't think blog tours work.

Over at Writers Unboxed,
Crystal Patriarche, publicist for BookSparksPR outlines the ways an author should approach blog tours. She doesn't specifically mention the effectiveness of blog tours, but the post assume that they are.

I find myself in an unusual situation: I don't really disagree, not too much anyway, with either of their positions. What about you?

Be sure to read the comments on the SVP blog. A lively conversation has sprung up primarily between Greg Pincus, a book marketing guru, and Sarah. A few other book people turned up with their contributions: agent Jennifer Laughran, authors Tanita Davis and Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Putting aside the question of social sites, at least the internet enables online communities in which thoughtful people who care can engage in meaningful discussions.


4 comments:

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Thank you so much for nudging me over there. I was fascinated with that discussion. Recently, I was starting to notice some of those problems, too. I think we need to remember balance. It works in all phases of life.

Yat-Yee said...

Thanks for visiting and you're right: balance is key.

lotusgirl said...

I think blog tours can help, but only to a certain extent (Unless the blogs on the tour have huge followings).

Sherrie Petersen said...

I'm no fan of blog tours and actually, I agree with everything Sarah ranted about. Completely.