Spamming Editors, Agents, Authors and Bloggers = Not Cool

When we are talking about marketing, it is always great to have a following of people who will always share your links to your books, and, in return, you are going to do the same thing. This cross marketing is a fantastic way to get the word out. HOWEVER, in our world of social media, we have a lot of people, not just in publishing, who believe that the best way to promote their product, is to essentially spam market on other people's platforms.

I frequently find, as I am either blogging here, or sorting my emails, authors who are jumping on my platforms and filling my emails with their personal products. Now, let me first say, these are often books and products that have nothing to do with Greyhaus Literary Agency so I would obviously not follow up. For example, I might post how editing your manuscript for grammar before sending it to agents is a really good idea (which, um, yes, it is). Then, I get a comment from someone who writes:

Scott, everything you said in this post is right on the money. Grammar and spelling are truly important and thank you for posting. As a follow up, here is a link to my service where I will provide not only copy editing, but also cover design for your book. Thank you for sharing my link.

Wait a minute! I did not offer to share your link. You just scrolled through the Internet and linked your product to it. So, what do I do? Delete your comment and move on. And since these comments show up in my email immediately after you posted, the odds are it was a waste of time. 

Another example are the authors who are likely going through those awful lists posted by someone who says, "Here are links to all of the agents". They then go through that list, copy all of the emails and start sending out emails with their blog posts, their social media campaigns and so forth. Ugh.

Look, if as an author, you are upset by the fact that you are not hearing back from editors and agents right now, it is because we are SWAMPED! We have all of our own clients, but we are also sorting though all of those SPAM emails that fill our inbox. 

If you want to learn more about honest social media marketing and connecting your product to the right people, there are a ton of courses out there that teach you just that. Take the time to learn. You will find that your name and reputation in the business world may greatly improve!