Build A Relationship, Then Advertise Subtly
I was watching this one guy’s video. In general I really super like his stuff. I keep feeling like, however, that he should expand on what he means more when he says that Comic Book creator should take a more clinical approach, and listen more than talk. I’ve tried listening more than talk, and then are some people on Twitter that will take advantage of that “professionalism” and use that as a chance to speak over you ten thousand fold. And that doesn’t go into the people that exclusively use Twitter to promote their books, by posting absolutely nothing but advertisement posters for their books.
Even if I wanted to plug my work, the chances of my work actually getting seen by people is almost never, because I’m having to wade through people who only use social media to post graphic posters from their self-published book. I should not have to fight for attention for people that treat Attention like it’s some kind of rare commodity, and that readers are a finite resource. Readers aren’t the finite resource social media promoters think it is.
If you’re losing readers, the reason isn’t because there are less readers overall, it’s because readers are avoiding you because you plug an advertisement poster in their face all the time. I’m also a reader, and there is nothing that makes me avoid a book faster, than having someone on Twitter constantly plug their project at me. It’s like having tailored advertisement continue to happen despite having uBlock origin as a Firefox plugin.
Simply advertising your book more, is the exact opposite lesson Big Two comic book publishers should be taken, as you would think they would know better than anyone, how hard it is these days to get the attention of readers.
What you want to do is build a relationship with your readers, and then subtly mention your book in passing, without shoving a poster in their face, like a wooden paddle to someone’s bottom. On Youtube in particular, there are people that put you in [ Youtuber channel ] jail, because you hadn’t paddled you book at people enough. I’m not interested in becoming someone like that.
I have more books I need to write, and more strips I need to draw in the mean time. I know being a self-publisher it is slightly different. But promoting is the onus of the one publishing the work, not the creator them self. I like self-publishing, but it’s not worth it if the only social media website I have the option to use, is one where I have to struggle for readers like it’s a dwindling supply of oxygen.
I have better things to do.