As a writer, I do love being read, and when I get an indication that my readership is expanded, I celebrate. But, there’s one aspect of being known as a writer these days that I do not celebrate: you become the target of the legions of trolls and opportunists who view certain writers as prime targets for exploitation.
By certain writers, I mean those in some of the lesser-known genres, like poetry or westerns. I happen to be a writer of the latter, writing for a small but growing publisher who has been promoting its writers in an innovative way. Rather than buying expensive ads, which are seen by only a few people and acted on by even fewer, my publisher uses social media and cross-promotion in ways that engage readers and have proven far more cost-effective.
The method has a drawback, though. Because the mainstream publishing industry is not yet using it, I have the feeling that the trolls and exploiters who once set snares for independent authors through the bogus publishing contracts and vanity publishing schemes, along with the new crop of ‘book promoters,’ who claim to be able to put your book in front of ‘millions’ of readers for a mere four hundred dollars per title, think my publisher is just a conclave of independent writers trying a new way of getting their books read. They haven’t yet realized that it’s a small but growing publisher poised to change the book industry.
That, though, is another story. The system is working. I’m getting increased book sales. However, I’m also being deluged with unsolicited emails, some of which are rather poorly written, offering to promote my book to a broader audience for a fee. When I say deluged, I’m not exaggerating. I get fifteen to twenty of these emails a week, and some of them are very duplicitous in their approach.
It starts with a compliment on a recent book and a glowing review, followed by questions about my writing routine or inspiration. The first few I received, I dutifully answered—not wanting to alienate potential fans—only to have them follow up immediately with the proposal to promote for a fee.
This posed a dilemma. I do get fan emails, but now, when I get an email complimenting me on a book, I don’t know if it’s real or another sneaky sales pitch.
Some of the emails are easy to ignore. Like one I recently received that was obviously a boilerplate message: the writer forgot to insert my book title in the space where (book title) was in brackets. But others are really cleverly done.
I have finally decided on a strategy. It’s risky, because I will probably alienate some real fans, but it’s necessary, because I do not have the time or energy to deal with the trolls. When I get an email like this now, I simply delete it and move on. Those that my email provider routes to the spam folder get deleted along with all the other spam I get.
It’s a harsh thing to do, but I am left with no other choice if I’m not to get caught up in an endless cycle of explaining that I do not need, nor do I want their services, and I really don’t want their emails.
Until I can think of a less blunt method of dealing with these unwelcome intrusions, that’s the way it will be. I hope that true fans who write me won’t be too offended by receiving a response. Know that I appreciate you, and blame these people who are in the business of making a writer’s life miserable. | NWI
