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Blogs by L.T. Suzuki
Selecting Writers For My Author Feature
1/29/2012 8:55:39 AM
How I choose authors for my weekly feature...
Since I started this weekly blog feature, I’ve showcased the talents of over 100 writers. Now, with over 3750 followers on Twitter, I’ve had the opportunity to ‘meet’ thousands of writers of whom some I’ve gotten to know even better after featuring them on my “All Kinds of Writing” blog page.
Recently, one of my Twitter friends asked about how I select the author I choose to feature. Now, this I did not mind. It’s a good question. What I do not like is being backed into a corner. By this, I mean, I’ve had a few authors boldly DM or email me either asking “when are you going to feature me on your blog” or “if you interview me, then I’ll interview you in return”.
Well, to put it bluntly, just because you have a novel you’re trying to sell and you follow me on Twitter, these are not the criteria that will get you interviewed on my blog. Neither will tempting me with an interview on your website do it either. Just like I avoid doing peer reviews, I do not believe in doing tit-for-tat reviews. (If I happen to pick up a book, I won’t tell the author. If it’s wonderful, then I surprise the author with a review.)
So, going back to how I select authors to feature, here are some of the criteria:
1) If you are social on social media, in other words, you’re not using Twitter to constantly spam, pushing to sell your books and you use this venue to connect with readers/writers by sharing advice, reviews, writerly blogs, etc., then you’ll pique my interest. These tweets give me more insight into you, as a person and writer, not someone scrambling to sell something. (Please note: I have unfollowed writers when I have discovered their Twitter stream is nothing more than spam. A constant, steady stream of: Buy my book (title) here: (link) will only make potential followers shy away!
2) At this time, I am not interviewing aspiring writers. I’ve had some ask that I interview them now as they work their way to publication (and build their platform), but if you don’t have a book backed by great reviews and no excerpt for me to read, then I will wait until you are published.
3) Good reviews. By this, I mean thoughtful, well-written reviews. This doesn’t mean consistent 5-star reviews raving about how the reader was swept away into another world or this paranormal romance author is the next Stephenie Meyer. It can mean 3-star reviews that explain exactly why the reader enjoyed the book and why they’d recommend it to others even if it wasn’t quite their cup of tea.
Because it was brought to my attention that some authors ‘pad’ their reviews by having family support their works or by having their writing friends provide rave reviews in exchange for 5-star reviews (even if the rave review is really not warranted), I now take the time to read excerpts to see if the writing is consistent with the reviews. If it’s a story I’m immediately drawn into and I appreciate the effort the author dedicated to world building, character development, attention to grammar, spelling, and I like their writing style. I’m more likely to approach the writer to see if he/she would be interested in an author feature.
4) Just because you have great sales, it’s not a reason for me to feature your works. I recently discovered one writer (who shared her little secret with me, but asked that I not reveal who she is) giving away her books for free, but including these freebies in her sales to pad her actual sales numbers, thereby artificially pushing her book higher on the ‘Top 100 List” on Smashwords.com.
The strategy behind this was to, for lack of a better word, trick potential book buyers into purchasing the book because ‘it must be good to be on this list’. The author also admitted it was her bid to garner the attention of a publisher or literary agent who might be perusing this list. Even though I explained to her that my former agent didn’t care how many books an author gives away for free, she wants solid sales numbers to determine how many would actually buy it, this writer didn’t seemed fazed by this at all!
Because many of my followers and blog readers, particularly on Authorsden.com, are avid readers, they appreciate being introduced to new talent. When there are so many wildly talented authors out there, and I only do three author features per month, how do I justify showcasing the works of those who are just okay? These writers could be genuinely wonderful people, but if I feel their stories can use a bit more work (and I’ve been surprised how many don’t use editors, critique groups or beta readers to improve their stories and to hunt down those typos they missed, etc.) I’d rather steer the readers turning to me for new writing talent to those who really took the time to polish their works and present the best possible story they could create.
Now, I know some of you reading this post will be put off by me and my methods, even accusing me of being pious or self-righteous when my novels are not perfect and do not appeal to the taste of those seeking traditional epic fantasies. But just like the honest book reviewers that take the time to post their opinions and offer constructive criticism the authors can use to better pace the action, develop their characters, fill in plot holes, etc. I, too, am entitled to my opinions, or in this case, how I select authors for my weekly feature.
So please, demanding that I interview you or offering an interview in return doesn’t work for me. If you’re as good as you believe you are, I’ll discover it myself and I’ll be happy to feature you! Just be patient, as I have so many fabulous authors to choose from! Thank you for reading this post.
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