My marketing updates have been well-received, so I’m tossing another one your way. Unlike the blog tour and shop talk, this one is my least favorite technique.
Why? Because there is a thin line between marketing through these so-called “public cold calls” on social media and spamming.
Oh, I felt some of you roll your eyes. I did too when it was suggested by some of the other authors at my publisher. Then I thought about it. Social media is a platform. Some of us have been working at it longer than others, and the mass following some channels / pages have makes it worthwhile for smaller / newer people to post there.
A tweet aimed at Neil Gaiman. A comment on JackSepticEye’s latest YouTube video. The pure number of viewers might make the number of rolled eyes worth it. Hell, any publicity is good, right? Sure, ten seconds later, your message is buried in the thousand others, but who knows how many people saw it, so maybe it was worth it.
That is why it’s annoying. While the message might work, it could also be just as easily ignored. I had pushed the idea aside, but now – two weeks in – I’m tempted.
Why? Because that’s how all marketing works. ALL marketing is a gamble. You can send a request to a review site and be completely ignored (more on this next week). Or you have a set number of reviewer submission in your contract, but they might not be prompt. Timing is delicate in publishing and advertising.
Good Luck.
Eli Celata 
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