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Originally Posted by taming
A good friend of mine had a book published by a major publisher last year. Even in that situation, expectations have changed. She was encouraged by both her editor and her agent to develop a website (on her own), create a Facebook fan page, twitter, and interact with potential readers in numerous ways.
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For sure--self-promotion is nothing new. I've been doing it for my print books for 15 years, and I literally don't know any traditionally published authors who don't. Unless you're positioned in a very big way by the publisher, they don't do a heck of a lot to get your name out there.
As for how effective self-promotion is--even aside from the question of obnoxious over-promoters--that's anybody's guess. Fiction is sold largely by word of mouth, so the best advice I've ever heard on the subject, which I try to bear in mind myself, is to spend the bulk of your time and energy writing the very, very best book you possibly can.
I'm not convinced that social networking is terribly effective as a promotional tool (I didn't do much of it until I found myself with some time on my hands this summer), so IMHO the smart author does it for the same reason everyone else does, because it's fun and diverting to chat about books with other readers. The existence of dedicated self-promo threads and promotional sig lines makes it easy to confine one's marketing efforts there, and then just enjoy the forum for what it is.
Kumbabjorn, I must respectfully (sincerely, because I know you have the authors' interests at heart) disagree with the notion that readers owe us anything. Yes, word of mouth is critical, and we love it when a reader review shows up somewhere. But I believe the reader's obligation is to pay for (rather than steal) the book, period. Our job as writers is to entertain. If we do that job really well, our readers
may want to recommend our books to others, in which case our audience will grow organically. But to
expect that, after they've gone to the trouble and expense of aquiring your book in the first place, strikes me as a bit much.
Pat