New Forum Possibility for Authors

[Motokid]

Would anybody object to a "Shameless Self-Promotion" type forum for authors to post new releases and/or web site information?

This type of thing would be especially nice for newly self-published authors to get the word out about a book they've just released. It would give a place for "new book advertisements" to be placed so that they would not infrringe upon other forums.

I would think TBF members would want authors to feel welcome. I would think readers would love to know about new books. I would think there's nothing wrong with a small amount of self-promotion as long as it's captured in a specific place and contained there.

Is there any happy middle ground that the members of TBF, and the owners of TBF can accept, that would offer a friendly environment for new authors to come here and reveal their releases? Advertising for viagra or iPod's is clearly not what I'm talking about, but I think a place for authors to advertise a new book would be a welcome aspect of a book forum.

Please feel free to expand upon this idea too.

I just think it's comes across as very harsh to beat down on a newly published author and tell them that they can't mention or speak of the very thing that this forum is supposed to be about....books.

 

[Stewart]

You want to advertise your book, don't you?

 

[Motokid]

You want to advertise your book, don't you?

Actually no, I got a pm from a forum member who's not very happy with how things have turned out here. While I understand that "advertising" is not something people want to see, I would think book forum members and book lovers would have a special place for authors in their hearts and would want them to be a part of the community.

I was actually thinking of somebody else entirely. Believe it or not.

 

[Kookamoor]

Wasn't there a thread about this a while ago? There were some suggestions made to have a sticky in the writers section or to have ONE designated thread for discussion with the author about their book. The latter thread should be established only in consultation with the mods. This would prevent people signing up only to promote their books. Not sure if the mods ever considered this, though. There was a lot else going on at the time that commandered their attention, I think.

A question for the authors who might be interested: Why not just purchase advertising space on the forum?

 

[abecedarian]

I don't see it as a bad thing for writing members who have established a relationship with the rest of us, to ask if anyone wants to see their work. I guess the difference is in attitude. A spammer just insists we view whatever they want to plop out for us, while a legitimate member of this forum will be much more humble, not wanting to offend.

 

[muggle]

Actually, I would prefer a "single" topic dedicated to authors wanting to discuss/promote their books. That way anyone wanting to see what some of the members have written can go directly to the topic.....and.... if people aren't interested they don't have to read the topic.

 

[Ice]

There were some suggestions made to have a sticky in the writers section or to have ONE designated thread for discussion with the author about their book.

Yes and the person in question does have a thread in which to discuss their work.

Moto I am afraid this is not something for the moderators to decide, it is purely down to Darren. We can only go by what is written in the Membership Agreement. Currently under section 3.4 it states:

Messages and posts which are blatantly posted only to advertise your product or service will be edited and may lead to a ban from the forums.

If you want to have the MA reviewed then this is something you will need to take up with Darren.

 

[Motokid]

Yes and the person in question does have a thread in which to discuss their work.

Moto I am afraid this is not something for the moderators to decide, it is purely down to Darren. We can only go by what is written in the Membership Agreement. Currently under section 3.4 it states:



If you want to have the MA reviewed then this is something you will need to take up with Darren.

I understand this. I am trying to get a feel for what the forum community as a whole thinks of the idea. Nobody wants some jerkwad trying to peddle the latest mp3 player or anything like that.

But in a book forum....authors create books. Authors should be welcome. Authors have passion for their work. Having happy authors around should be a valuable asset. Giving authors a place to modestly post something about their own work seems like a good idea to me.

I just wonder what others think before I contact Darren.

 

[G4G]

I just wonder what others think before I contact Darren.

Good idea, in theory, at least.

 

[Motokid]

Good idea, in theory, at least.

If everybody says they hate the idea then that's cool....I let it die.
I know at least one or two members who like the idea of having authors around, and who like the thought of reading something new.

Just testing the waters before I dive in....

 

[Stewart]

But in a book forum....authors create books. Authors should be welcome.

Sadly, the majority of these authors are published under shitty vanity presses like Lulu and Publish America. They may write, but I don't view them as bona fide authors.

 

[Shade]

I wouldn't be keen. If you think about it, for every legitimate worthwhile member of TBF who has a book to promote, such as moto or sirmyk, there are dozens of chancers who have started threads to push their lulu efforts and then disappeared forever, and I don't see that a proper forum for people to promote their books would change that.

Let's face it, such a forum is not going to attract Martin Amis or even Clive Cussler to tell us about their new work. It would be a haven for self-pushing self-publishers, and while there are honourable exceptions (guys!), we all know that a lot of self-published stuff is self-published for a reason.

 

[Motokid]

Sadly, the majority of these authors are published under shitty vanity presses like Lulu and Publish America. They may write, but I don't view them as bona fide authors.

Let them be judged by their work, and not their passion for wanting others to know about what they've done.

Let's not forget how many really famous authors started as self-published. Give them one little section of the boards to say "I've done this, please contact me if you'd like to read it and review it for me".

Keep it under control in one specific area, and that allows those who have interest to check it out, and keeps those who don't like it from having to deal with it in other areas of the forum.

Much like having a forum for television shows, why not a forum for authors to "modestly" and "tastefully" announce their pride and joy?

 

[Stewart]

Let's not forget how many really famous authors started as self-published.

And let's not forget that the times in which Virginia Woolf and James Joyce self-published are long since gone and that big publishing houses are here now. If they can't get published with the number of companies out there then, sadly, their work is most likely not up to scratch.

 

[Motokid]

And let's not forget that the times in which Virginia Woolf and James Joyce self-published are long since gone and that big publishing houses are here now.

Point well taken, but I'd rather see the book judged as crap then the author judged as a pain in the ass for just announcing something they have so much passion for.

If all those type posts are controlled in a specific sub-forum....members that want to have nothing to do with them can easily avoid them.

 

[G4G]

If they can't get published with the number of companies out there then, sadly, their work is most likely not up to scratch.

But that's a bit like saying that if a musician/songwriter isn't published or can't get a deal of some kind, they must be crap.

 

[Stewart]

That'll be X-Factor then.

 

[Kookamoor]

If you think about it, for every legitimate worthwhile member of TBF who has a book to promote, such as moto or sirmyk, there are dozens of chancers who have started threads to push their lulu efforts and then disappeared forever, and I don't see that a proper forum for people to promote their books would change that.

Yeah, this is my concern too. There would need to be strict moderator guidelines in place for promotion, otherwise it runs the risk of being a popularity contest and somewhat elitist.

Moto - I think you should PM Darren and get a feel for whether he would even consider thinking about something like this. Given that it is so expressly specified in the MA, then I think he will have strong reservations. I think having a sticky for approved authors to talk about their work might be good (is it possible to create a thread for only approved members to post in?). If members want to know more about a particular book they can then start a thread about it. BUT if Darren really feels that this isn't appropriate then I think it's time to accept it and stop flogging a dead horse. This discussion has come up many times and it's time to get an answer.

I think it's also important to point out that there is a difference between 'promoting' a book and discussing a book with the author.

 

[Motokid]

I view the membership agreement as being stated so specific to keep people from spamming for iPod's and webpage design services.

By asking Darren first or second is the chicken and the egg isn't it?

If TBF members would like a special little "author announcement" section, and they voice this loud enough it might carry enough weight to warrent an experimental period to see what types of posts it gets.

If I just email Darren with nothing to back up my position it's much easier for him to say "no".

As of this moment I don't see any need to ask Darren anyway. It appears very few people like the idea.

 

[sirmyk]

I earlier PM'd all moderators (except for Ice, since his inbox was full at the time) my concerns about this issue. This horse is well flogged, but we still need to turn it into glue.