Bad Manners Do Not Sell Books
By Jerry D. Simmons | June 6th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Manners make all the difference in the world of lasting impressions. BookExpo was held this past weekend in New York City. Some reliable sources in attendance passed along some very disturbing information. Seems this year some of the more desperate Independent Authors decided the only way to gain attention was through displaying bad manners.
They tried the hard sell routine by pitching their books to those in line to have books autographed by other authors. These indie authors used the same approach at escalators and on elevators, pitching to whomever would listen, shoving information into people’s hands. They were described as acting like those who come up and “wash your windshield without you wanting it done.”
If a small group of people were talking…with friends or with their agent…these indie authors would interrupt and do their pitch. Interrupting small private conversations, throwing your pitch around, harassing people waiting in line does nothing but create an image of a group out of control. This is certainly a bad reflection on Independent Authors in general. The mistakes of a few can tarnish the image of many, and Independent Authors as a whole do not need to add that image to their reputation.
This is not the proper way to sell books. This kind of behavior will eliminate any possibility of those badly mannered authors gaining the proper attention, let alone selling books. The attention an author wants from the industry involves great writing and great stories. The book industry will not respond favorably to rude behavior. To get positive attention an author must write to the best of their ability and learn how to tell a great story. Authors owe that to readers.
A very good friend of mine told me that “Bad manners are never in vogue, and no one (NOT even Oprah) owes us anything just because we wrote a book.”
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
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