This week’s topic is:
Does a big ego help or hurt writers?
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Every so often I am followed by other writers on Twitter (I’m not on Facebook), and when I check them out I am immediately suspicious of the ones that boast “Amazon best-selling author”.
Quite a few times I have checked out the Amazon rankings of these authors’ books, and guess what… they are not bestsellers! There are no orange badges proclaiming their success, and all I can deduce from their claims are that perhaps once upon a time their book, especially if the genre is uncommon, might have hit a favourable ranking for a day or two.
I am quite world-weary to egotistical best-selling author comments. What’s the point of claiming you have top rankings when you do not? These authors with their big egos are doing nothing to enhance their writing careers, and are making themselves look ridiculous. Let’s face it, how many self-published authors get to keep that little orange badge for weeks on end? Not many, I’ll wager.
Sure, we can boast about a great review we’ve had or a competition win, but let there be physical proof of it. It’s no use bragging about something that readers cannot see with their own eyes. Lies can only hurt writers’ careers in the long run.
What do other blog-hoppers think? Click on the link below to find out, or just add a comment.
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2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
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Clive said:
Those authors who lie should be politicians – that’s the main requirement for that career,
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Stevie Turner said:
Looks like a general election is looming – Boris just lost his working majority.
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Clive said:
Couldn’t happen to a nicer chap 😂
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robertawrites235681907 said:
The whole Amazon best selling author thing seems to be a bit of a take, Stevie. People manipulate the sales by offering their book for free download and those count as sales towards these ratings. It is quite contrived and undermines the system in my opinion.
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Stevie Turner said:
Absolutely.
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dgkaye said:
It’s getting so common, I don’t even notice. If their book hits top 100 during a big Bookbub promo, some authors hit it for a day or two and call them best seller the rest of their lives. Lol 🙂
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Stevie Turner said:
It’s farcical, isn’t it?
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dgkaye said:
🙂
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aurorawatcherak said:
Reblogged this on aurorawatcherak.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks Lela for the re-blog.
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aurorawatcherak said:
I like grabbing snippets out of my reviews to use in advertising, but it’s best not to make claims that you can’t back up, including “best-seller”. That’s a sign of an outsized ego that might prove to be especially brittle.
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Stevie Turner said:
That’s right. Readers will soon find out the truth.
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aurorawatcherak said:
The authors who are doing that are counting on making some sales to people who don’t do their homework.
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P.J. MacLayne said:
it’s a marketing ploy to call yourself a best-selling author. It’s supposed to convince readers that other people liked your book so they will to. Does it work? I’m no advertising guru, so I don’t know.
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Stevie Turner said:
Sounds dishonest to me.
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richarddeescifi said:
I can’t stand the contrived competition of ranking and bestseller status. There’s plenty of readers to go around, and everything is subjective. I rarely tell anyone about my reviews. Which is not to say that I’m not grateful for good feedback, it makes it all worthwhile to know that your tale was enjoyed. Lots of reviews or a bestseller badge doesn’t mean that my book is better or worse than any other story.
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Stevie Turner said:
Yes, as you say, it’s all subjective and we all have preferred genres that we read and write in.
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