Crime Fiction Dossier

Social Media Etiquette for Writers

The following is some of the annoying behavior I have observed by authors on various social media platforms. Maybe other people aren't bothered -- but I'm not known for being especially sensitive. So if you're getting on my nerves, chances are that you're alienating other potential readers as well. Many writers try to consider what readers think about their texts and edit them in a way that reviewers would like better (for instance, I have this friend who often asks for editorial assistance from Top-Papers.com and instructs writers there to make the article “more exciting for younger audience”, whatever it means).

• Don't post an ad for your book on someone else's Facebook wall. Yes, posting a link to Amazon and writing "My book is now available for Kindle" is an ad. Post that on YOUR wall.
• Don't add someone to your group without their permission. If you do this, I'm liable to immediately block you.
• Don't accept a friend request and then immediately post "Like me on my fan page" to your new "friend's" wall. This is obnoxious behavior that will also get you blocked.
• As far as that goes, I'm not sure you should ever ask someone to "like" you on your fan page. But if you must, don't do so more than once. Under no circumstances should you ever send multiple messages to the same person asking them to "like" you.
• Along similar lines, don't send people more than one message telling them your book is now available. One message is fine. Anything more than that is annoying.
• Don't post a comment in someone else's discussion saying, "Congrats on your new book! My new book is just out, too. You can buy it from Amazon."
• Don't retweet every positive message you get. If it's someone notable (i.e., with a ton of followers or name-recognition), fine. Retweet it proudly. But for the others, just write back and say thank you. It's classier.
• Don't constantly tweet or post that your book is now available or your book can be bought here, etc. You don't want to be silent about it either. But it shouldn't be five posts in a row every morning.
• By all means, tweet your positive reviews. Maybe even do it twice if you spread it over a couple of days. But not more than that.

I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones that bugged me the most. What are some of your social media pet peeves? And what are some strategies you've found that work without annoying people?

Edward Gilbreth, RIP

Ed Gilbreth, the man who held the post of mystery critic for the Chicago Sun-Times before me, has died at 76. The Trib has a nice obituary in today's paper.

I never met Ed, nor knew him in any way. But whenever his name would come up, mostly in conversation with Chicago crime writers, they always spoke very kindly of him.

My condolences to his family.

Here me speak: A Critic Perspective, Picks, Pans, and Pitfalls

I'll be giving a talk on April 3 to The Writer's Center as part of their "Leesburg First Friday" program, held in Leesburg, VA. The title of the talk is A Critic Perspective, Picks, Pans, and Pitfalls (yes, I'm aware that isn't particularly grammatical, but it wasn't my title). It'll go from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.

Here's the description:

Join us for a discussion of the state of book reviewing today, and find out how it works on a practical level. Learn to avoid the common writing problems critics often see, and discover how authors can increase their chances of getting books reviewed. Hint: It does not involve bribery with wine or chocolate.

If that doesn't sound riveting...Well, I can't help you.

I'm open to suggestions (preferably non-profane ones), so if you have any thoughts on what would make good discussion points for this talk, please send them along.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A few folks have written in to ask, so I wanted to say: Yes, I am still alive. Been busy lately, but I hope to post some stuff again soon.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Go out tomorrow and buy some books!

A webcomic worth checking out

I'm not really a comics fan, but a reader sent this in and I found it interesting. Zuda Comics (a division of DC Comics) is holding a competition to select a new comic writer, and one of the entrants (Shawn Aldridge) has created a pulp detective/science fiction mash-up called Vic Boone.

Check it out -- the kid's got talent.

Vote early, vote often

A friend of mine is a finalist in Amazon's contest to write a Harry Potter ballad. It's down to two finalists and hers is the better one, I think.

So go vote for Laura H.

If she wins, she's going to steal the super-limited edition The Tales of Beedle the Bard book that Amazon paid a million bucks for. Then we'll all have a chance to look at it.

Novelists Strike Fails To Affect Nation Whatsoever

As reported in The Onion, the current strike by the Novelists Guild of America "has had no impact on the nation at all." The strike, which has "brought an immediate halt to all new novels, novellas, and novelettes from coast to coast" has reportedly "affect[ed] no one."

The article goes on to note:

A report published last week by the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication found that the strike has thus far had an economic impact of approximately 0.00 to 0.01 percent. In addition, consumer habits remain unaffected, with 0 percent of those polled saying their reading habits had changed "significantly," 0 percent saying they had changed "somewhat," and an additional 0 saying they had changed "slightly." A significant number of respondents reported no reading habits.

Tough times, my friends...I have been on strike since June of 2006, but so far the impact has sadly been minimal.

Legal question

Here's a question for you shyster types out there:

If workmen make a GODAWFUL UNENDING POUNDING noise outside your house for two days running, can you legally bludgeon them with a baseball bat?

I'm just wondering...

(This might be the plot for my next story...which quite possibly will be written from prison.)

Frank Wilson, Inquirer books editor, is leaving

Frank Wilson, the books editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, is leaving the newspaper. (I just saw the news on Sarah's site.)

I wrote for Frank for the past few years and it was always a great experience. He was one of the good people in a tough business, and someone who truly loved books -- all kinds of books. Under Frank's guidance, the Inquirer covered literary fiction and non-fiction and true crime and science fiction and poetry and lots of crime fiction -- anything a reader could want.

This is pure speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't signal a decrease in books coverage by the Inquirer. I hope that I'm wrong.

Does the News Matter To Anyone Anymore?

David Simon, creator of HBO's The Wire and a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, had an excellent article in Sunday's Washington Post about the decline of the newspaper business.

It's strange to imagine a world in which the daily newspaper is an anachronism, but we're fast heading in that direction.