To Follow Or Not To Follow

I would like to touch on an issue that has recently come up in my efforts to promote my novel Knightfall. It doesn’t have anything to do with the actual promotion of the book, but with the branding of me, the author. I’m sure most other authors, especially those of the indie persuasion, have come across this situation. I’m also sure some would disagree with what I’m about to say and they can feel free to leave a comment. But since this is my blog, I get to go first.

I am a member of various groups on various social media platforms. One particular group on a particular site (I won’t get more specific than that since those details are irrelevant and would be more destructive than necessary) offers its members the opportunity to share their Twitter handles and extends an open invitation for new followers. I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to spread my name around the Web and hopefully reach more potential readers and fans.

Here’s the issue that has popped up and now disturbs me.

One group member voiced his dismay about the followers he was not receiving. He was dutifully going through the posts and following all the members that had given their handle. I’m the type of person who gives others the benefit of the doubt until they prove to me they don’t deserve it, so I will assume he was truthful in the comments he recently posted. Even if he is not, I’m sure someone else feels as he claims and I would still be irked at the situation. Those recent comments of his were about his annoyance at the fact all those people he was following were not following back. He has now decided to not follow anyone until after they follow him.

What the hell?

I’m sorry, buddy, but I won’t be forced to follow someone I’m not interested in. I’m on Twitter hoping to connect with readers that like fantasy novels. That’s what I write. I may branch out into other closely related speculative fiction genres, so I’ll also want to reach those fans as well. But what good will it to do me to clutter my list of followers with DIY landscapers who only read historical romances? (This is not this particular disgruntled author’s niche, if you’re planning on trying to figure out who he is. I don’t mean to bash him on a personal level. I don’t know him and have no problem with him. My problem is with the attitude he displayed and views already displayed by others.) What good will it do you to have hundreds or thousands of followers if none of them will ever consider buying your books? All you’ll get is a flood of tweets you’ll never read. Worse than that, said flood will inundate your feed and you won’t even see the posts you really want to read.

So, my friend, please tell me what your goal is. Do you want to reach a thousand followers on Twitter, or do you want to sell a thousand book? I wish for the latter. I write because I have stories to tell and wish to share them with the world. I wish to entertain them with a good read, not mere sentences every other day about how things are going in my life. For that reason, I am one of those people that is currently annoying you. I will not follow you just because you ask me to. I will follow you if we have something in common or you have something to say I find interesting and think others in my circle will enjoy reading. But I will not waste my time with those that will only hinder my progress. It’s all good to have thousands of followers, but they don’t mean much if their interests are all over the place, everywhere except your particular niche in the literary world. Just being an author is not enough, in my books. A self-help guru specializing in nutrition is worlds apart from a novelist who writes about a mass murderer terrorizing a steam-punk infused dimension still in its prehistoric era.

I’m sure most of your mothers have told you something along these lines: “If all your friends jump off the bridge doesn’t mean you have to jump off too.” Following just for the sake of following doesn’t help in this case. In fact, all it will do is hinder you in your efforts to promote yourself. Of course, this is the opinion of an author just starting out. But it still makes sense to me, so I’ll keep doing it until proven otherwise.

Any professionals out there willing to share their insights? Any amateurs who want to add their two cents? Please feel free.

~ by Marc Labelle on September 18, 2012.