— Mark Paxson
When I first started blogging and publishing, there were a lot more writers out there in blog land. I got into what I felt was a pretty good community of writers looking to grow and learn, and also to support each other.
One of the tools I learned of back then was a blog tour. Basically, a bunch of bloggers sign up to promote somebody else’s book on their bl0g when it is published. I looked at that and thought, “Why would I promote a book I hadn’t read yet? Give me a chance to read it first and then I’ll decide.” But, for awhile, blog tours were a thing.
There is something similar now going on over on Twitter. #pitmad is a quarterly “event” where writers develop pitches for their manuscripts and tweet them out. Then others retweet those pitches as a show of support. There apparently is some kind of value to retweets. There are a bunch of agents and other writers who “run” this event. The next PitMad is scheduled for tomorrow.
The problem is that in the days leading up to tomorrow, I’m seeing all sorts of writers tweet that they will trade retweets with other writers or that they’ll retweet pretty much anybody’s tweet pitch. Which all leaves me completely unimpressed with the whole concept.
I absolutely totally, 110% believe that writers should support other writers. As Berthold wrote about last month, there are many views of how writers interact with each other, but at the end of the day we should all be in this together. II prefer to reside in a supportive community instead of a competitive community. As a result, I don’t want to bash the general idea behind PitMad.
The concept is a good one. Writers post their pitches and get feedback. It helps them hone their pitches and there are some who have got agents out of their PitMad participation.
However, the idea of blind support just puts me off the whole thing. It turns into a popularity contest instead of a value and quality contest. Support is good, but blind support just doesn’t seem to be very meaningful.
This is one of the things we indie writers should be careful about. I get that the point behind PitMad isn’t necessarily to support indie writers, but instead to support people in their efforts to get noticed by agents and publishers. I think it is relevant to what we do, however.
There is enough of a scarlet letter reputation for indie writers already. We are viewed as the trash heap of the published world by all too many people. So many of us can barely find any readers even when we give our books away. And all too frequently, we hear of readers who have no interest in indie books because of their poor quality.
What does it say about indie writers then that they are willing to endorse books they’ve never read or pitches they’ve never seen? I really think that we owe it to ourselves and to other indie writers to care about quality and to know what we are supporting in the industry before we put out an endorsement. There are enough good quality indie stories out there that we shouldn’t need to show our value in the community by supporting anything and everything that gets thrown out there.
Blind support, while it may feel good and may produce some blind support in exchange, doesn’t really produce any long-lasting value. At least that’s what I think. At some point, it becomes apparent that the support isn’t based on anything real. Here’s the real consequence. If you tell me a book is great on your blog, or on Twitter, and then I go read it and see that it is riddled with typos and barely edited, there’s a very good chance that I won’t pay attention to your recommendations anymore. There’s something else I won’t pay attention to — anything you produce.
Over the last few months I’ve thought of developing a pitch and participating in PitMad at some point. This week’s multitude of “comment here and I’ll retweet your pitch” and “retweet me and I’ll retweet you” tweets has turned me off of the whole thing.
What do you think? Ever participated in PitMad or a blog tour or anything else like that? Every endorsed a book you hadn’t read? (I’m open to the possibility. I’m interested in the why.)
Writers Supporting Writers 
I’ve never endorsed a book I haven’t read. OK, once a fellow WP blogger and indie author asked for volunteers to call attention to a new release, and provided all the material (text and images). I was aware that this author seemed to be highly regarded in the blogging community, so I agreed and put together a post. But I also read the book and fortunately found it to be of good quality. Would I do something like that again? Probably only if I’d read and liked the book already, or at least another book by that author.
Otherwise, I’m not keen on blog tours. I follow a lot of blogs, and when I see repeated promotions of a specific book on different blogs, I start to weary of it, which colours my attitude toward the book. Maybe it’s not fair, but over-promotion of anything has the opposite of the desired effect.
Never tried PitMad, although I’ve seen mentions of it. Even its name gives me the shudders, and all those promises to exchange retweets sound like the sort of review swapping that caused trouble on Amazon.
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I agree with the concern with over-promotion. There are a few writers on Twitter who tweet about their books every single day. That’s the best way to get me to ignore and avoid a product. Thing is, I finally bought a book from one of these writers and didn’t make it past halfway.
The only writers I’ll promote without reading the book are those I have read enough of to know they put out good product. Kevin Brennan and Tammy Robinson are two examples of that. Also Carrie Rubin.
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The problem the majority of self-published/independently published authors face is that very few readers have heard of them or their writing. Very good self-published writers can find it difficult to get noticed as they do not have the power of a big publishing company to promote them. Consequently one of the few ways in which such authors can get noticed is by guest posting on other blogs/websites.
Independently published authors can, of course do readings in libraries and other venues. However, due to the pandemic this is now impossible in many countries, including the United Kingdom where I live.
I never promote an author with whose work I am not familiar. I will, however mention an author on my blog (even if I haven’t read a particular book), provided that I have previously read and liked said authors work.
Best. Kevin
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Hi Kevin, my thoughts are the same as yours. I do support other authors with their book launches but these are people like you, whose blogs I follow and whose books I have read [always at least one]. I host blog tours for a book club I belong to and I have read books by the people I promote, I also host tours for WordCrafter Press and, again, I belong to this writing group and know the contributors and their books and writing. I have noticed PitMad and thought I might do it next time. It can’t hurt. There again, I support people I know and whose work I have read.
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All of this is very true. It’s very difficult for us indies to gain readers. As a result we grasp at every straw thrown our way.
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Blind promotion, no no no , nonono, I wouldn’t do that. It just cheapens the reputation of the promoter and muddles the whole process. I do understand book bloggers who are on a paid book tour. That’s just advertising.
I TRIED to participate in PitDark last year, but being a newbie to Twitter, it didn’t pan out. I froze! I set up a Twitter account specifically for the event then deleted it afterwards. I think PitMad is a good idea if authors get partial and or full requests from agents or publishers they know of and trust, but I also know an author who got burned, so everybody has to be careful all around.
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I agree, Priscilla. I know authors who have been burned through this sort of endeavor. You have to use common sense.
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It’s interesting watching PitMad roll out and then what people say in the days and weeks that follow. There are occasional tweets referring to somebody getting an agent through PitMad, but I don’t know about that. I took a look at a few of the pitches that were tweeted a couple of days ago. The Likes are supposed to be from agents and publishers. The tweets I looked at — almost all of the likes were not from agents or publishers. I really wonder how much agents/publishers are actually paying attention to PitMad.
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Hi Mark, I found your thoughts here interesting. It a bit like trading reviews and paying for reviews. For me, my support has to be earned.
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Thanks for your comments. I agree that support has to be earned. I would never want to promote something that isn’t worthy. So much of what goes on with PitMad seems to be a bit empty, a pit of a popularity contest that doesn’t actually reflect on the actual quality.
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I’m not sure it’s really a matter of blind support for the work. Many writers don’t live on twitter, so it’s easy for their pitches to get lost in the glut or retweets. People blindly retweeting were doing something really nice to even out the playing field (not that it’s particularly helpful).
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I guess what I should have more clearly stated is this. If agents and publishers are on Twitter and they are involved with PitMad, they are likely seeing the pre-event tweets. Seeing people promise to exchange retweets or promise retweets without ever seeing the pitch. So … if I’m going to look at the pitches being tweeted I’m going to completely ignore the retweets because they don’t have any value.
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Good post.
Blind support is empty and for the most part worthless. For the most part because enough attention *might* get someone’s work to the right pair of eyes/
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As I just responded to another commenter, I can’t imagine that agents or publishers give a whole lot of value to the retweets. The biggest problem is with the number of people who were promising “attention” before they ever saw the pitches. If I’m an agent or publisher and I see all of the pre-event buildup, I’m going to completely ignore the retweets.
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I’ve been scratching my head over PitMad. If it’s supposed to be some sort of vetting process for pitches to help agents and publishers decide which are worth pursuing in the overcrowded field, I don’t see how it could possibly work. The pitches I read out of idle curiosity also left me scratching my head. (Huh? What do you expect me to take from this?)
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I agree. Most of the pitches I read, and admittedly I didn’t read many, seemed somewhat lacking. But, as I understand it … only agents and publishers are supposed to “like” a pitch to show they’re interested. All else are supposed to retweet pitches. I guess in an effort to draw attention to them. But if agents and publishers are really using PitMad to see what’s out there, they can just search for the hashtag and start reading people’s pitches, and form their own conclusions. Am I missing something? Maybe more retweets move something up when somebody is searching?
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The whole blind support concept makes the whole process of reviews pointless. It’s the same mentality of giving everyone an award. It cheapens the significance and makes books less relevant.
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I completely agree. I get annoyed with some of Amazon’s policies regarding reviews, but given how many people try to game the review process … The absolute last thing I want is for somebody to promote my work without full knowledge of what my work actually is. I don’t want fake reviews and I don’t want blind support. Post reviews, but post honest reviews. I can take it.
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Good and informative post
There is always a lottery element in all ventures. In writing it is likely to come down to resonating with someone or group who are in a receptive mood. Marketing and publicising are harder and less rewarding that writing itself.
Then of course there are always those who will be moved by mischief and malice.
It’s tough out there.
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Blind support, on any front, or given in exchange for “I support you/you support me” amongst those who don’t really ‘know’ each other or their offerings? I agree – bad thing – bodes no good things for anyone – I see such things all the time in WordPress website land for those plugin/themes that operate generous ‘affiliate’ rewards AND for those who continue to hope, they can make more money while just working to refer others, but creating nothing of real help/substance, themselves, overall, long term. – that ‘arm’ of the online world has grown exponentially this year – to my eyes – – and to me? same thing as ‘supporting fellow authors’ when one hasn’t read their work.
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Yep. I totally get supporting other people, but at some point your brand and your reputation is on the line as well.
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