Let the writer/buyer beware!
I've written previously about promotion sites that seem to promise to do the gritty work of promoting writers' works so that they can be freed up to write. And the truth to that, as you would possibly recall had you read my post, is BULLSHIT! And I admitted back then that yours truly had been taken in, and not only once, by said BULLSHIT. Never again, though. If I spend my money on promotion, it will be to promote myself, as I'm currently attempting on Amazon and Facebook.
But lately, I've run into free videos and website blogs that seem to be all about "helping" writers. You know, paying it forward and all that smarmy shit, just because we're good people. And good people help people.
BULLSHIT!
Two of three "gurus" I've run across have all kinds of suggestions based on their successes and what worked for them. Both suggest giving work (or actual merchandise) away in exchange for email addresses on a readers' mailing list. I paid about $100 one time for a one-day freebie promotion giving away VISITATION RITES to whomever clicked that title at that promotional website. It was downloaded 80 times in that day! HOORAY! Right? Wrong! It led to zero later sales and zero reviews. Never again...Besides, I've decided that something I've spent a year slaving over with sweat, tears, and love has worth. And giving it away for free is making a statement that I believe it is worth nothing. (Now, understand that I would feel differently had those 80 downloads resulted in the start of a career.)
Back to those two "gurus." First, if anyone gets taken in by them, perhaps you deserve it. Just go to Amazon and see how their fiction (if they write anything besides "how to write and sell shit") is selling. It's not. Then, if you stick with their free videos and blogs long enough, they reveal their real goal. They hope you're sucker enough to pay hundreds of "discounted" dollars for their online courses.
BULLSHIT!
Oh, and the third guy? All his listings on Amazon are about how to write books. WTF?
Rant over...Time to go and write more of a first draft for the near-future, dark-future book.
By the way, Happy Veterans Day. I served 4 years, and didn't kill quite all my brain cells partying on your tax dime. I don't remember much of it, but since we're not occupied by the Communist hordes now, I guess I did my job well.
