We live in an era in which writers have to relentlessly market their own wares, be it their books, blogs, freelance services or whatever. That’s just the way publishing works now whether we like it or not. And frankly, most writers don’t like it. I’ve yet to meet a writer who really loves the self-promotional aspects of the job.
The good news: We now have all of these wonderful online social networks to promote our little hearts out. The bad news: Some authors are starting to sound like late-night infomercials. It’s understandable given the climate, but it’s still an incredibly sad-making state of affairs and probably not very effective.
I’ve been thinking about this dilemma and what sort of guidelines writers might impose on themselves to be more effective at social networking. And I started thinking maybe the 60/40 rule would work.
Something I learned from my tenure as a magazine editor: Most magazines stick pretty closely to a ratio of 60 percent editorial content to 40 percent advertising. In other words, 40 percent promotional content is the upper limit of what a reader will tolerate. The other 60 percent has to be quality editorial content to keep readers engaged.
I think maybe this 60/40 rule can apply to social networking and blogging, as well. So 60 percent of the time, you’re posting useful content, reaching out to others, making friends, building relationships. And 40 percent of the time you can devote to (preferably subtly) promoting your book, blog, freelance services, etc.
There’s a lot of karma to social networking. I think if you put out more than you ask for in return you can’t really go wrong.
What do you think?
-Maria Schneider
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I agree! Excellent use of the 60/40 rule. Thanks for the suggestion. Peace & love.
I agree–there is a LOT of infomercial-type self promotion going on. The noise-to-signal ratio is very high. What’s worse is it leaves a bad example for newcomers who can be led to believe that shameless self-promotion is a good thing. I found a new freelance site that was using an RSS feed to plug Craigslist job ads into their site, then advertising on Craigslist as though they themselves were offering the jobs. Shameless, and totally irresponsible. Where did they come up with THAT wrong-headed idea? No clue, but they clearly don’t understand the value of transparency and using principles like your 60/40 rule to guide good content.
That’s an interesting take on the subject. I find self-promotion difficult, but I try not to be too off-putting. I think on some occasions I must come off that way though.
Running a book review blog is tough work and some authors can take stuff too far.
I’m glad I stopped by to read this post. I’m rather new to freelance writing, and have a difficult time with the self-promotion aspect of freelancing. 60/40 sounds like a good balance.
I’ve got your site on my feed reader and find it extremely valuable as far as understanding the writing world.
Brilliant application of the 60/40 Rule! Hope this frees many freelance writers from feeling they have to be “that guy” who over-promotes and scares folks off. Excellent!
When I edited a magazine, I remember it being 60% advertising and 40% editorial. Maybe that’s why I’m not there anymore? It had something to do with the postal rate – not because the publisher was being magnanimous.
Anyway, I’d rather give the darn books away (have root canal, wisdom teeth pulled …) than market them. Mentioning my publications on my gazillion web pages and blogs is incidental. Or a necessary evil.
What if we are doing less ‘obvious’ self-promotion?
I use my professional blog (edutechgeek.wordpress.com ) as promotion of both my writing and educational technology design talent. I guess I never considered any other types of promotion necessary for the professional eduTech blog. Rarely, am I doing any additional promoting on my blog. So, I am 80/20. Is this an uh-oh?
I always figured that promotion was the whole purpose of a separate (digital) portfolio.
I read this the day it was posted and have been thinking about it. 60/40 sounds like too much self promotion to me — at least if you think of it as blatant advertising. My feeling is that maybe 10% could be blatant advertising — like, “Here’s the link to Amazon so you can buy my book!” The rest of it should be like good PR. You’re giving people something (information, entertainment) they need or want, and in doing so, you are promoting yourself, increasing your credibility, increasing goodwill, etc.
Trying for the clever sentence or two and words that hits the nail on the head towards what ever subject I engage another in dialog within a blog, and to have the person wonder who I am. They’ll perhaps tick a profile link which is included for the members of most blogs, to find out more who I am, and then brought to my Web site.
I’m simply interested in the subject, and sincerely responding to the dialog.
Agreed Kurt. That’s a perfect solution.
This is always such a hard balance to strike! Especially in light of the discussion we were having in the forums about blogging and how people want constant free content. I like the 60/40 rule– it helps you to remember that the majority of what you do should be just interacting and producing fun content so that people can get to know you. But it also says that it’s okay to say: okay, you’ve been reading all of my free content, just don’t forget that I also have these books for sale!
Love this post. I wish more of my colleagues payed attention to this rule. Just sent a tweet alerting my feed (albeit small) to this post
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Deborah
http://termlifeinsurance2.com
I believe I strike a 60/40 balance as a writer. The larger percentage is the time spent reading though. Self promotion is certainly not a strong suit in this writer’s game.
I agree. I’ve also notice some networkers offer help in areas, but for a price. I was shocked. I decided then if someone asked for help, I’d give it freely. I don’t care how successful I become. Fellow writers deserve that much – not to be charged a fee for answers to a question or two. If that is how I have to make money, I’m not interested in that type of Freelancing….
I like that ratio. I find myself overwhelmed by the promotional/networking aspect of things – especially with so few hours in a day. What I do enjoy about networking is meeting interesting people and the friendships I have picked up along the way. I think when I approach it from a purely business perspective I quickly burn out, when I look at it from a relationship perspective I re-tank.
uhoh kids snuck out the door…
Hi Maria,
I think that ratio is way too high. At least for me. I’d never get anything written. That would sap my energy. I spend about 10% of my time promoting – or less – over the course of the year. But I do spend a lot of my advance promoting. I’ve found that I do much better taking out ads and doing buzz than I could ever do self-promoting via social networks and blogs etc. I’ve tried both ways and seen the results. And based on the authors who I know and who are happy – that’s a better way to do it. Some are friends and others are clients at Authorbuzz.com – which was invented for just this reason.
Writers are suppposed to be writing not marketing. There are experts for that.
Even freelancing to pay the promotion bills seems to make for happier authors who are more satisfied with their work. There are lots of reasons for it – that would probably make a good article.
Hi M.J.,
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I didn’t mean to imply an author should spend just 60% of her time writing and 40% marketing. Only that every time you post a blog, tweet, or engage in any other social media, you keep your self-promotion beneath that ratio. I do agree with you that strategic spending on advertising and marketing is also important and I think Authorbuzz is a wonderful advertising vehicle for authors to consider.
Call me crazy but what about letting your work speak for itself. I’m all for letting my virtual social network pals know when I have a new piece up, but even that has limits.
When one earns a following the work should be the biggest draw.
This is a tricky one for me. I find people like me to post small (or entire) pieces of my poetry on Twitter. They seem to like that more than my vague burblings – in fact the only reason ‘banana_the_poet’ is online is to have somewhere to share my poetry. My most popular blog kicked off as simply a repository for my funny poems and has stayed that way ever since.
So it is difficult to know what counts as promotion and what doesn’t – because if linking to my poetry does count – then I’m more like 90/10 promotion.
Lately I have had to start marketing my published books. I do enjoy that because it is such a challenge. Everyone says that poetry doesn’t sell – and so many people say they don’t like poetry – so I am on a mission – to disprove those apparent truisms – or look a complete idiot trying. It is worth the effort and the risk.
I’m being good in this comment by not linking to my books or mentioning their titles. Maybe that will help restore my promotional karmic balance?