So Amazon is going through some changes and many authors (well, the ones who mainly self-promote on Amazon threads) are freaking the frick out. I used to like going to the threads and chatting about off-the-wall topics, without any kind of self-promotion. But now everything seems to turn into a nasty argument, even without self-promoting authors to muck things up. I expect things will even out, once the animosity has settled down.
So what did Amazon do?
They’ve moved all the author and promotion threads to a “Meet Our Authors” forum. I understand, and partly agree with, Amazon’s choice to separate the authors from the customers. Self-promoting can get irritating when it’s done by idiots, and Amazon has a responsibility to their customers.
You don’t jump into a conversation about baseball and say “Oh yeah, baseball’s awesome, check out my novel about rabbits. It’s kind of like baseball without the bat, ball, players, and spectators.” Silly rabbit!
The Cesspool
So now the “Meet Our Authors” forum is like one big promotion cesspool, and authors are now complaining about drops in their sales. I’m going to go ahead and assume that the authors who are whining the loudest are the ones who ruined it for the rest of us. I’m talking to you, Rabbit Man!
I’ll admit, I’m fairly new to self-promotion myself, but I’m quickly learning what’s appropriate, and what’s not—at least I think I am, no one has yelled at me thus far—and even I get irritated with some authors on twitter who only talk about their new book, or their next book, or the last book they did. Bottom line…be a person, not a promo-machine.
