Lorrie's website is: http://struiff.wordpress.com/
Lorrie's blog is: http://lorriejuly.blogspot.com/
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READERS, AUTHORS, I NEED A QUESTION ANSWERED ABOUT FACEBOOK. CAN YOU HELP?
Thank you, Marva, for inviting me to you blog today. I do hope we get a lot of guests because my curiosity is piqued again.
Is FaceBook becoming too much like a writer’s blog?
Are we over-running FB with pleas to go to our blogs, pleas to buy our books? Are we preaching to the choir again? You authors understand what I mean.
How are FB readers responding to the inundation? I’d really like to know readers, so I hope you leave a comment.
Readers, do your eyes gloss over when reading the ads? Do you just skip over them and scroll down? Or, do you just hit your “Friends List” or “Family” and not bother with the home page?
How about you, authors? We all belong to many book sites on FB, but do readers sign up for these sites to keep abreast of the forthcoming books, the blurbs and the book pitches.
All these questions rattle around in my head. Maybe because I am an author and I wonder if we are getting through to the readers or only to each other. The choir again.
All this make me wonder, also, if that is why FB put up those lists of “Family” and “Friends.” Maybe the powers-that-be are too aware of the inundation.
Yes, yes, I know this has been happening for years as a good way to advertise our work. I’m not saying, “stop it.” Authors have no choice. And I’m certainly going to continue.
But, I would love to hear your thoughts in some comments. Satisfy my curiosity, please.
Now, to advertise my new book. Lol. I hope you scroll down and read.
A HEAP OF TROUBLE
Buy from MuseItUp Publishing
Buy from Amazon
Sheriff Cole Walker has no choice, Beggar, a run-away ringtail monkey has decided to move in with him. Now, Cole doesn’t like any critters much, but he doesn’t dare shoot the ringtail who sneaks out at night to steal the townsfolk’s valuables and hides them under the bed. Why doesn’t he just shoo the animal away?
Because, Mattie Wells, a pretty woman, is new in town and she sure jingles Cole’s spurs. She thinks Beggar is adorable and takes a shine to men who love pets. What’s a poor sheriff to do but grin and bear it?
To keep the peace in town, track and chase down cattle rustlers, return valuables from the prowling night thief, Beggar. With his deputies Wade and Sully, and his unwanted sidekick, Cole must find a way to win Mattie’s heart, find the rustlers, and bring peace once again to Cold Creek, Kansas. Cole has a heap of trouble on his plate.
If you want a different sort of romance, this is a western with action, comedy and some fun characters. Let me give you a peek.
Excerpt
Dang. He ran under the desk again and the door’s wide open. Cole peeked at the monkey huddled in the dark kneehole. “If you don’t get out that door and get lost, I’m gonna have to shoot you. You understand? Now get! Shoo!” Cole flapped his arms like a wounded bird trying for flight and stomped on the floor, making a ruckus. No luck.
He leaned on his long handled weapon, sighed, then slid his hand down the wood handle and sat on the floor. He didn’t trust the monkey worth a dang. Critters belonged outside, not underfoot—especially under his foot. But, what if it belonged to some youngster? He couldn’t stand the thought of some snot-nosed tyke crying his little heart out and badmouthing the big bad sheriff who shot his pet.
A rumble from his stomach reminded him the varmint ate his lunch. Now he’d have to wait till suppertime for a decent meal. Sweat pooled under his arms, his shirt stuck to his back. He needed a smoke …bad.
Cole reached into his shirt pocket and took out his makings. He laid the broom tight to his thigh. Unsteady hands lost some tobacco but he managed to roll a cigarette and light it. He had to think up a way to get this unholy terror out of his office.
The monkey peered at him, blinking his eyes pathetically. It crept from under the desk. Cole held his breath and inched his hand toward the broom. The monkey somersaulted, stood straight, and clapped its hands. Cole swore the little thing was grinning. It somersaulted again then hopped up and down, clapping.
Cole snapped his fingers. The monkey chattered, nodded its head, then did another tumble. After a long drag on the cigarette, Cole snapped his fingers again, his right hand never far from the broom, or his holster. The creature sat on the floor, tilted its head, and stared at him. Cole evil-eyed him back while he ground the butt out on the floor.
A biscuit lay next to the wall. Cole threw it at his foe. The monkey made a quick one-handed grab, blinked, and gnawed on the crust. The thing did look a little scrawny.
“When you’re done eating my lunch, will you leave?”
The monkey looked up and shook its head.
“Huh? If I pack you a lunch, will you leave?” Again, the monkey blinked and shook its head. Cole’s chest tightened and he put his hand on the warm grip of his pistol. “If I shoot at you, will you leave?” The monkey shrieked, ran under the desk, and hid its eyes with its hands.
“Who are you shooting at, Cole? And why in the world are you sitting on the floor?”
His head snapped up and he found himself sinking into the sweetest blue eyes. Mattie Wells grinned, deepening the dimples in her cheeks.
Visit my website at http://struiff.wordpress.com/
Lorrie's new blog is: http://lorriejuly.blogspot.com/
See what else is new.
Here's the book trailer to give you another view of A Heap of Trouble.
Lorrie, good question and I've wondered about it myself. Be interested to see the answers you get. Obviously, I'm one of those authors guilty of posting, come read my blog, come buy my books LOL.
ReplyDeleteGuilty as charged. I can't think of what else to do with FB, anyway.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic. For me, as a reader, I prefer it when the author sells herself on FB rather than their book. I like when I can see the personality shine through and then I think...hey, that person is pretty interesting. I think I'll like their book.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a FB page by an author that is 99% advertising, that can make my eyes glaze over. The Author pages I enjoy the most are the ones that are engaging, endearing and fun, and just happen to be by an author. It seems more sincere if you know what I mean.
To me, FB is different from browsing a bookstore or amazon trying to pick what to read next. I find FB more for the "author" rather than the book.
Of course, this is just how I look at it and I'm often in my own little world. LOL
Tammy
Good comments, all.
ReplyDeleteTammy, I'd only wonder what is to become of those of us without a shiny and engaging personality to present to the world. Some dang good writers were total creeps in real life.
I don't disagree with you though.
Note to self: develop personality.
All great comments. I'd love to get some strictly readers on here to comment, or are they just skimming over the blog advertisements?
ReplyDeleteThat's a very valid question, Lorrie, not sure if I have a very valid answer to go with it lol One thing is that a certain number of my FB friends are fellow authors, and we also tend to travel in the same yahoo groups. So we see each other's promos all the time. After a while, you do block out a certain amount of that, I think. Add to that the fact I can't afford anything and I already have a ton of ebooks I haven't read, that makes me even less inclined. But that being said, I like to keep up on what is being written, esp if it's new.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the readers are noticing or not, as they don't all talk. I like to think so, so I'll keep doing it. But I'd love to know if it helps myself.
I know, not a very useful answer lol
I hate seeing all the promo on face book – it’s gotten so bad that I hardly ever go there anymore. I had originally signed up for facebook to keep track of my kids (who are adult and live 500 miles away) and other people I know in real life, but now it seems like all I get when I log on are excerpts from novels and short stories.
ReplyDeleteMy buying habits aren’t swayed by the excerpts. When I by physical books it is from a local independent book store and let the owner guide me (he has known me since I was 12- he knows what I read) for about half of my perches. I’ve found I shop the same way for e or audio books. I spend a lot of time browsing and I read reviews, but only 2,3 and 4 star reviews, never 1 or 5 star reviews
PS: I have a learning disability and it has taken me 15 minutes to get the captcha words right.
I tend to skim through the FB pages and pick and choose who/what I read, otherwise I would be hours on the dang thing! I treat it like TV commercials...and aren't there a ton of them anymore on each program. If I'm not interested I don't bother and just keep going on.
ReplyDeleteYes, I hate the captcha squgglies,too. In fact, on the THORN page of my website, I complain about them.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like the honesty of everyones answers.
I do believe most readers skim over the multitude of pleas to buy our books. But, what can we do about it?
The curse of social media, lol. As a reader, it's sometimes interesting to get a glimpse of the author as a person, but I'm more drawn to their writing. Same as with any form of art, it's about their work, and it wouldn't feel right to judge them on any other basis.
ReplyDeleteI don't see very many book ads. If I do see one and it looks like my sort of book, then I'll probably click through for a look. What I dislike is seeing the SAME excerpts and ads all the time. I'm on Twitter and some authors keep on tweeting the same book. Others tweet about one ad to every eight or nine "other" tweets which may be about cats, chocolate, the weather, their SO - get the picture? I feel as if I'm getting to know them. I never feel like that with the one-ad-tweeters.
ReplyDeleteThe whole preaching to the choir thing is a problem. If one joins author loops, then one is trying to "sell" to people who are trying to sell their stuff. If one joins reader loops, one gets sat on - hard - if one mentioned one's book - even if it is abslutely on-topic. Someone once asked for recs of light-hearted series. I suggested the Jack Russell series. I got trodden on - hard. Still not sure why. It IS a light-hearted series. The fact that I co-wrote it doesn't change that.
Very good discussion going. Let's keep it up. Share this discussion with your friends and ask them to stop over and give us their opinions. We need them.
ReplyDeleteSorry to everybody. I thought that the verification was not used on my blog, but somewhere along the line it got turned back on.
ReplyDeleteAs the blog owner, I never saw it when I commented.
It was only in this thread because of Elizabeth's comment that I thought to check. Somebody should have complained!!!!
My apologies to everybody. I want it easy to comment, not let anything get in the way.
As far as FB author promos, there are two kinds:
ReplyDeleteThe ones authors post in their own timelines which show up in the only if it rises to the top via anybody Liking or Sharing.
The ones posted within a group of folks with which you have a relationship. For example, there's a MuseItUp group, Ebook in the Room, Fantasy Writers, and a couple of others.
Then, of course, there are the flat-out ads. I never pay attention to these and I don't know anybody who does. I tried FB ads for awhile and it had zero impact on sales. Dropped that waste of money!
I don't think FB announcements for websites and putting the cover and buy sites, plus a blub is influencing any readers at all. I'm thinking it's a waste of time except to let the other authors know what is going on.
ReplyDeleteDo we ever get readers on our announcements to 'hop over to my blog and read yadda?'
I don't think so. An author will, but not a reader.
I used to go to my local bookstore, the sales lady knew me and the books I like. She'd recommend books, never disappointing. I liked that personal experience.
ReplyDeleteBut since then, I have the Kindle and I do most of my browsing via internet now. And I too check comments, the 2,3 and 4 star comments like Elizabeth does.
As for Facebook and the FREE ads, I see them seldom and they don't bother me. I check most of them out to see if I'd be intersted. But today there was a whopping 18 on my page. I couldn't believe it. Did it irritate me? That's hard to say since today I'm having a very bad day. Normally I'd at least look at them but today, I find myself a little annoyed.
Also, I've got books that were free thinking they were okay since they went through a publisher. Some I bought a couple since they were either .99 or $1.99. And when I went to read them, OMG! They were horrible! They ask you to hit like and then share. When I did that with this particular set of books, I was embarrassed to have recommended these books. They were horrible. I mean HORRIBLE!!!
I'm a writer but haven't been published...yet. And I am an avid reader-all writers must be IMO. Some of the books, short stories I've read, I find myself critiquing them instead of reading for pleasure.
I don't normally get annoyed with those ads on FB. Actually, I wasn't even aware of them until a friend invited me to one (I thought they were for only published authors). I think I belong to 3 or 4, maybe that's why I have so many.
IDK, did I answer your question? haha I sort of went on a rant here so I'm not sure. I'll check back to see if I did or not. :)
Thank you annon for being honest, and I totally agree with you. Loved the rant, and rightly so.
ReplyDeleteThere are many 'stinkeroo' books on the market through publishers. I have also wondered how they got published.
I've downloaded books, started to read and after a few chapters, deleted them. And that's discouraging because it gives the really good authors and publishers a dip in the sales.
I don't know if some small pubs accept the books hoping the author will promote enough to make a profit, or what.
All of this is a sad state of affairs. It hurts everyone. I like to try books by new authors, and if they are terrible, I will never purchase another book from them.
On Amazon, do you read the first chapter or so before you purchase?
I do, and sometimes I can tell by that if I want to read the book. lol, sometimes the first chapters are good, but the rest is 'stinkeroo.'
And if you think the books are horrible, please don't 'share' on FB. You are not obligated to do that.
I don't know if my reply will help you, I doubt it. But, you may try getting on the publishers page of the certain books and send them a private message asking how in the world that book got published? It may help them vet the books more closely.
Again, thanks for the rant. Loved it. And good luck with getting published.
Thanks, Lorrie. I'm hoping my novel will be finished this year. Ha! I got three months, so we'll see. (I've been sidetracked by a new idea.)
ReplyDeleteI won't hit like or share anymore unless I've read the book. I have read the first chapter, or at least first couple pages, a few times to see if it 'hooked' me. Unfortunately, the one book was recommended and I took it by word that it was well written. My mistake. Will I ever buy from that author again. I'd have to read first chapter, maybe more, to convince me but I'd give it a try. The idea she had was very cute. And hey, weren't we all that bad at some point? I know I've learned a lot over the years and when I recently went back and read what I thought was a good book, I laughed and said, "What the heck was I thinking?" That's why I said all writers must be readers. Also a good crit group is absolutely necessary. We need fresh eyes. I also believe in reading your work aloud. You wouldn't believe the mistakes you'd catch. (I do)
Hmm, I'm wondering if this should be in the "Thorns" part of your blog. lol