Every Word Matters
When I started reading romance some twenty-*cough* years ago, there was no hopping on the internet to see what was next from my favorite author. No website where I could find a quick list of the author’s backlist or read about her life with her husband, three crazy kids and two rambunctious dogs. At the most I had a picture inside the back cover and the words between the pages as my only link to the source of the wonderful stories.
Today is very different. Now it’s unheard of for an author not to have her own website. Even a blog or bulletin board is necessary, and perhaps the most important tool for an author. You see, I’ve found countless new authors through these public forums and in many cases, I was more moved to buy their work simply from their personality and generosity than through the blurb for their book.
There are authors who make you laugh, authors who inspire you with their real life story, and authors who are just so dang nice you can’t help but root for them. Even if the Captain hadn’t raved about Leslie Langtry, reading her blog would have convinced me to buy her books. She is sarcastic, witty and funny as Hell.
There’s Anna Campbell who wrote for 27 years (which makes her 29!) before selling her first book and what a book that was. She’s now a double RITA nominee for her first two novels and I can think of no one more deserving of the honor. So glad I’ll get to be there to cheer her on at the awards ceremony. If you’re reading this Anna, I promise we won’t embarrass you TOO much.
Then there’s Toni Blake. She’s one of those authors that is just so sweet and generous and always comes across as down to earth be it on blogs, bulletin boards or in email. Even if you don’t like your romance hot enough to melt your bookmark, you want to buy her books just to support her.
But there can be a negative to all this. You see, you can lose a reader just as quickly as you can gain ten. I’ve had authors completely ignore me in a blog conversation and that’s enough for me not to buy or read their books. I’ve seen an author leave a comment that seemed insulting or somehow condescending. This is a deal breaker for me as well.
Anyone who has been communicating electronically for any period of time knows it’s a tricky business. Tone doesn’t always convey in a few quick words typed on a screen. The joke can be lost, the sarcasm not clear, or the response taken completely wrong. It’s one thing when it’s two friends talking and it can eventually be cleared up. It’s totally different when you’re an author and your virtual words mean just as much as the words you put in your books.
For you readers, do you get upset if your favorite author doesn’t have a website or doesn’t update their site very often? Have you found authors in cyberspace you might not have picked up before? Have you been turned off by an author based on something they did or didn’t do on a forum? (No names, please!)
For you as yet unpublished authors, do you have an internet presence (wenches – here’s your chance to promote your other web activities), are you counting on a web presence helping you sell both to an agent or editor and eventually to readers? Published authors, what role does the internet play in your career and do you ever long for the days when all you had to do was write the books, make a couple of appearances and the occasional acceptance speech?
Disclaimer: There are countless authors I could have used in this blog including but not limited to the Original Squawkers (who gave us all the play book for this group blog thingy), the Romance Banditas, The Goddesses, and many more. Special honorable mention goes out to Eloisa James who is solely responsible for getting me into this whole mess. *g*
May 18th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I can’t keep up with all the web activity that goes on. At best, I can make it around the block once a week and visit all the authors I love. Gena Showalter’s blog is a place I check in. Killer Fiction ladies (woop woop Leslie!). Eloisa’s BB. Pamela Clare’s blog. Our lovely wenches individual blogs. And if I wanted to pimp my own individual blog, all you’d have to do is click my logged in name here
I’m a fan of the tech age. All these blogs and websites can get kinda confusing but it’s nice to be able to pull up a backlist for me to read or check against the books I’ve read. You learn about TV series’ of your favorite books and movies WAY before you used to. I love that. You can catch book trailers and early reviews. Hook into communities that you never knew existed. Make friends you never had before. Support groups to kick you in the ass to write more. It can be distracting but I think the good outweighs the bad.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:58 am
I went in to a Univ library the other day to dig out an obscure journal article and was amazed to find all the tables clear and plenty of room to sit and study. A few years ago there would have been standing room only. A colleague explained “they are all in the computer room logged into wikipedia!”
I agree that overall the Internet is a fabulous tool for all kinds of information flow though at times my teeth grate at some of the rubbish that appears. Jo Blogs, who has never managed to get his crackpot ideas published in reputable journals, can now post on the web and start a cult following!
Just as with newspapers, all info not peer reviewed needs to be treated with caution unless you have confidence in the source.
Hey Terri, this is all very cerebral for a Monday morning….my neurons are starting to fire again now…..thanks for the jump start.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:52 am
As you know, I’ve made a concerted if somewhat futile effort to avoid the Internet for a while. I’ve had outside assistance (a sign from God?) since my computer has been crashing constantly. We’ll see how long I last once the new computer comes. I do enjoy checking out authors on their sites, and I do love to bloghop…but I do want to write more. I find I learn so much online, so it’s almost as if I’m closing a book to write one. And the cameraderie is irreplacable—I’m conversing with people who are in the same boat—I mean pirate vessel—who understand the pull of writing. But I think for now I’m going to concentrate on my own crap and limit my forays into the Internet ocean. I may have to be tied to the mast.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Sin - you are the example of discipline that I need. I have gotten better and now visit less sites. The problem is, I visit the ones I do check out several times a day *sigh* But I will say Google is the greatest invention since sliced bread.
Q - leave it to our scientist to demand peer review. LOL! Yes, that is the negative about all this free web stuff. Anyone can say anything they want without much in the way of proof or credentials. The trick is to find the fact in the fodder I suppose. You’re welcome for the Monday morning lift. Anytime. *g*
Maggie - don’t beat yourself up too much. It’s an addiction. Like chocolate and coffee. Best to ween yourself slowly. Then again, there are worse things you could be addicted to. Like chocolate and coffee.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:47 am
I admit to procrastinating at different blogs. I visit two or three a week, but not daily. I stalk Lisa Kleypas’website:)I visit Squawk Radio, and the pirate’s individual blogs.I usually visit everyone’s blogs that comment here on the ship. I don’t always leave a comment but I like to read what’s going on.
I admit that I’m more intrigued by cover art than searching on the web for new authors. I’ve found many great authors by just picking up a book off the shelf because the cover attracted me.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Like Sin, I try to make the rounds once a week but sometimes it’s more like once every two weeks, though I wish I could hang out more.
My individual blog, though more just my comments on my writing, is here:
http://www.romancewithromance.blogspot.com/
Great blog, Ter!
May 19th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I need to clear up that disclaimer. All of those are positive examples of how to behave online. I just re-read that and was afraid that wasn’t clear. Back to the program…already in progress.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Lisa - I’ve never actually stalked an author’s website. Does Lisa’s content change often enough that it pays to check regularly? I love the pictures she has on there. She’s so pretty and so talented it would be easy not to like her if she wasn’t so darn sweet!
May 19th, 2008 at 8:51 am
*LOL* I hate being snubbed. I take it very personally, even if I do know the author is probably just uber-busy. It does affect my credit card where their books are concerned too. *LOL* (Though if I don’t read the author to begin with, I probably won’t buy their books if I don’t like their writing–even if they’re as sweet as my grandmother. Okay, maybe not MY grandmother, she was a bat…sweet as my mother, perhaps.)
Internet is very tricky. Some comments come off as uber-condescending. I don’t know if it’s lack of re-reading or considering the audience or what… *shrugs* But I won’t bitch hard. I’m sure I’ve done it myself. *LOL*
May 19th, 2008 at 8:52 am
P.S. one of my favorite authors DOES NOT have a website. This drive me batsh*t every time I read a new book by her and want to see what’s coming out next!
May 19th, 2008 at 9:02 am
There’s my point. It’s so important to have an online presence ever before you sell anything. But off the cuff can sometimes go awry whether we mean it to or not.
Kind of like when politicians try to make a joke on the national stage and it’s in poor taste or just not funny. As a kid, I was always saying stuff before thinking and putting my foot in my mouth. I can’t imagine doing that in front of the world. Ugh!
May 19th, 2008 at 9:13 am
I think my first post got lost in cyberspace.
I try to make the rounds every week, but I generally only get to it about once every two weeks. My computer time is getting super limited these days.
I have my own blog, but it’s really only updates on my progress and thoughts as I continue my writing.
http://www.romancewithromance.blogspot.com/ I love when people stop by and say hi though.
I think the internet is great to get to know other readers/writers. I hope when (see, I said when, not if) I get published, it’ll help me to meet people then as well.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:14 am
What an awesome blog, Terri! And all of it so, so true. My TBR pile has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year or two. I definitely would not have been exposed the volume of authors or variety of genres without the internet websites/blogs.
I have definitely been swayed to try a certain author based soley on her internet presence also. With me it’s more of a library checkout, though, until I know whether this author is for me or not. I’m not as rash as I used to be about going out and buying all the books from a certain author, especially one I haven’t read before.
As for all the internet sites and blogs - they are getting just as overwhelming as my kid’s extra-curricular schedule. I think it’s just life nowadays. Our access and availability to everything is so immediate it gets hard to “just say no”. I think if I had been thrown into this PTO, sports soccer mom, neighborhood chair, etc. pit when I was younger I would be on some serious anti-depressants right about now. Age has definitely taught me to step away over and over again and let it be okay not to be involved in everything.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Marnee - You are so sweet, I know that when (see, I did it too!) you get published, you will one of those authors people will buy because they like you so much. You’ll be winning them over first with the personality and keeping them with the great books.
Irish - Amen, girlfriend. I have no problem staying out of the giant sucking noise that is volunteering for every dang thing. I’ve been in the PTA once but not for a few years. Which I should do. Maybe next year.
I’ve contemplated being team mom or room mom, but then sanity returns and I blend into shadows.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:26 am
As for making an internet faux pas… that is a whole other issue that I think we’ve all had to deal with in some form or another. I know when I first started posting, I cringed every time I pressed “send”. My first post would be my thoughts - however ineffectually I tended to state them. My second post would be apologies for my first post. This went on ad nauseum until I got the hang of how to state what I meant in a concise manner.
Humor was right out! I didn’t even attempt that cause everything I tried humor-wise came off as really, really mean. Sarcasm runs like fair skin and freckles in my family. I think conveying humor with the written word to those who don’t know you can be fairly hard. Either that or I’m just a big fat chicken and didn’t really want to venture there! Most probably the latter.
Let’s not even talk grammar. Sometimes I would type up this huge response and felt like Cliff Claven from Cheers and would delete it all and start over.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Well, I’m not Irish (that I know of) but sarcasm might as well be my middle name. And it gets me in trouble in real life so getting it across online is like walking in a mine field. I blame my parents. They are both very sarcastic, my mom especially. My dad’s just perverted to I blame him for the other stuff that gets me in trouble.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I tend to lurk on the http://WWW. It takes me a few months to gather courage enough to comment on a blog of an author. I loved Pam Clare’s books for over a year, lurked around her site for about that long before I gathered up enough muster to comment. Gena Showalter’s site, I still haven’t commented. I feel rather stupid when I comment. So I prefer to stay in the background with the shadows.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:41 am
My blind ignorance cannot be stopped. *sigh* I usually dive right in.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Yes, but that’s your charm babe.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:48 am
That is your charm Ter.
LOL!
Thank you for the sweet compliment, though, hon. I hope that is true.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Great blog, Terri. This topic has been on my mind a lot lately. Though I, too, buy into the “I want to support authors I like as people” hype, a part of me finds this new trend worrisome. It’s an amazing experience to find that a book you connected with has been written by a person you can connect with, but when did it become all about the author rather than the book? These days there’s so much emphasis on who has an awesome blog/message board, the most MySpace friends, or the funniest video.
I’m with you - it’s awesome to see great people like Anna and Toni succeeding. They’re lucky enough to be the entire package - winning personalities and beyond-fabulous books. But what about really nice, kind people who are mediocre writers? Or brusque, socially awkward people who write amazing books? As the market gets more and more competitive - and authors take on greater celebrity status - I wonder if we’ll reach the day when just being a great writer isn’t enough.
I also wonder about the importance of persona - what if you’re not what you write? We can’t all be J.R. Ward. Even Anna’s a great example - her hilariously witty blogs aren’t necessarily the best representation of her dark, angst-y plots. And everyone’s so enamored of AuthorTalk lately - though I find it amusing, I’m not sure that Gena Showalter’s interpretive dancing does much to convince me I’ll like her writing.
But I’m fascinated by the whole trend.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Lindsey - I do believe you have to have the writing to back up the personality. But the personality alone is good for first time authors. They need to get that first one into hands to get the following and really win them over.
And that’s the crux, a snarky author may write great books, but they won’t get read much if she offends too many people. Or she could be sweet as can be and one off the cuff remark came across wrong. It’s such a tightrope!
In the case of AuthorTalk, they are very funny. But I’m not sure how much that’s actually promoting books. They are entertaining though. And that’s kind of a fun outlet to take advantage of a different form of creativity.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Great topic, Terri! I must confess, I have picked up new authors that I would have never found from learning about them on blogs (mostly here!). And there is just something extra special about reading a fabulous book and being able to say “yeah, I talked to her and she responded!” Personally, a good personality and an author willing to talk to their fans makes that author even more appealing.
But for me, it doesn’t go the other way. If the writing’s just not there, than no amount of great personality will make me keep reading. However, I would never recommend a friend not read a book if the author is sweet and has a great personality. I’d just feel terrible
So that’s one positive, I guess.
But I do have the same fears about talking in cyber-space. I’m sarcastic too, so I only make jokes with people I know well, who I know will take it the right way. Even being careful, I’m sure I’ve offended somebody along the way! With all the different ways typed-out words can be taken, how do you ever make sure that you don’t offend anyone?
May 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Hal - That “I talked to her!” thing is also a great thing we get with the internet. There are still big authors that you just can’t talk with, but most are pretty easy to find and always happy to talk. When they aren’t on deadline, which is fine as that means we get more books.
About offending people, I’m sure I do it all the time. Wording something wrong is all it takes. Though it didn’t happen often, I’d throw people a curve ball when I was still on the radio and hear about it being offensive later. It was always unintentional but what can you say? We’re all human.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I have a favorite author whose online persona I find offputting, but I will not deny myself the pleasure of reading her books . On the other hand, I won’t actively promote her as I used to.
As for Internet time, I have cut my regular blog/board sites to half a dozen with another several that I visit when I have time. Commenting regularly is time consuming, so I lurk more these days. I do worry about my own online persona. I fear that I sometimes come across as pompous and arrogant–qualities I loathe. But I am so conditioned to answering questions and sharing information that I do so first. Only later do I tell myself, “Just shut up, Janga!”
May 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Janga - you too! Thank goodness I’m not the only who tells myself to shut up. Then again, I don’t think you talk nearly enough.
The catch is when you’ve visited a blog kind of regularly and commented then you don’t have as much time so lurk or miss it for a while. I’m always afraid they are going to think I didn’t like them anymore or something. Which is my natural tendency, to assume something paranoid and irrational.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Overall I love blogging- but at times I worry that I’ll say something that will offend someone (no, really? Me?) which is never my goal. It’s a tricky balance.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Eileen just wrapped up my blog in three sentences? Why couldn’t I do that?
Damn hot air…
May 19th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Janga, I have been reading your posts for years now. And never once do I recall you writing anything remotely arrogant or pompous.
What you do project
Is a contagious sense of wonder at what the world has to offer…
And a commitment to sharing your knowledge with others.
To put it simply Janga, you are a Teacher. Yes I suppose that you “answer a lot of questions and share information”. But you also… How did Patricia Neal put it? Ah yes:
“A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.”
You awaken me Janga. And you inspire me to push myself beyond Myself.
K. Patricia Cross wrote:
“The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate “apparently ordinary” people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people. “
Yes, you are quite excellent my dear. And I should know. As I am quite the most Ordinary of Woman. An ordinary woman who found her voice because of generous people like you.
Julie
May 19th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I agree with Terri on all counts, including blaming the amazingly wonderful Eloisa James for getting me into the whole blogsphere. In my humble opinion, Squawk Radio set the bar for an engaging, informative and just plain fun blog site.
Do authors need a presence on the web? Yes, to a certain degree. But they need to keep up with it. Update it from time to time. Newsletters or emails work for me. These little things show readers that they are important to you and your work. It’s also important to be honest about just how much web presence you can commit to and be realistic when you, the author, decides that. Ultimately, it is their books ultimately keep readers coming back for more but in this highly competative field every little bit counts.