The latest trend in online marketing is building a “personal relationship” with customers and readers. Sending newsy emails about your fab summer vacation isn’t enough anymore. Now you have to ask them about their fab summer vacations.
This is supposed to let readers know you really care about them.
Does it?
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
I related to this blog post more than to any posts I’ve read in a long time — or maybe ever. Thank you for posting this! I recently took a course about building an author’s platform. I learned a lot from it, but the section about needing to offer something “of value” for free in order to get people to sign up for a newsletter I’ll probably never write really troubled me. I can’t remember how many automated emails I was supposed to compose in order to nurture all those “personal relationships” with my potential readers. Talk about an oxymoron!
Who has to give away something “of value” they created on the off chance that the customer will be so impressed with the freebie that they’ll buy a book they wrote? Other professionals/artists don’t have to do that, so who decided it was necessary for writers to do that? I’m having enough trouble finishing my novel without having to play marketing games with historical fiction readers.
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to vent my frustrations! Your blog post is spot-on. I hope book marketing recommendations change before I finish writing my novel.
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Marketing sure is a tricky business, Janet
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Only some corporate executives high on testosterone and control freaks with a hidden agenda develop that kind of marketing strategies. And writers who live by it are selling their souls. How sad must that be to let other people dictate your subjects instead of writing about something YOU would like to read?
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This is a good one. I can definitely relate to it. I don’t like the ram it down their throats strategies that are out there at the minute either. It’s just plain creepy.
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Agreed, Katia 👍
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Great post. I have a list I send to with TinyLetters about once a year. I tell them about my new book and where they can buy it. It always makes me feel guilty. Sometimes someone answers and then I am so grateful and feel I’ve done something good in those few cases.
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Don’t feel guilty about a once per year book promo, Jane 😃
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Really worth reading! Thanks!
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