Blogs by Nordette Adams
How visible are you as writer beyond your AuthorsDen clique?
11/11/2006 10:32:32 AM
Reviewing is for the reviewer as much as for the author. At least it is at AuthorsDen. Reviewing others helps your visibility. I'm not just saying this. I've seen it in action after many years on the Net.
I've noticed that some people, on a several writing-oriented sites, not just AuthorsDen, will assume that they are somehow harming another writer or putting the writer in his or her place, when they ignore that writer's work by not commenting, ever. Often this way of thinking is what's going on when someone who used to review you regularly suddenly stops reviewing you, but continues to review others. You may have offended them in some way and not even know it, or they may be stricken with jealousy suddenly. That jealousy may be of the attention you get from other authors, their perception that you are too cozy with a love interest of theirs, or possibly they recognize your talent and rather than trying to learn from you, they build up bitterness.
I find avoiding the work of others and not commenting to be odd if the reason is jealousy or you think the author's slighted you in some way. I do understand when we stop visiting an author's work, however, because we find it offensive, tedious, or a waste of our time. But anything other than simply not caring for the author's work or being genuinely too busy to comment as a reason to cease visiting and leaving your comment is downright stupid if you're here to attract attention to your own work.
From this group, I exclude established authors and poets who only use AuthorsDen as a place to send their established readers and fans. Usually such authors are already successful at drawing new readers by other means and AuthorsDen is simply a "storefront" for them. We have many authors here who aren't here for reviews, and don't need to build visibility. They already have it. They get hits because people already know who they are and are lookin for their work. I send them kudos.
I'm talking about the other authors who say they use AuthorsDen to gain new readers and visibility, but turn around and let their emotional insecurities and problems with other authors hinder their success.
I had to define who I'm talking about here because inevitably when I write a post like this, a couple of authors write me with explanations for why they don't review others. My advice to these authors? "If the shoe I speak of is not your size, then please let what I say fly! Don't sweat it!" But if you know you're ignoring other authors for petty reasons like jealousy, then this shoe fits you fine, wear it.
All websites in which people comment on each other are reciprocal in nature and that's simply the nature of the human beast. We don't do unto others as we would have them do unto us. We do unto others as we feel they're doing unto us.
Still, you know if you don't review others, you shouldn't expect reivews. Neither will your readership grow much if you keep reviewing the same people over and over again. I've been guilty of this at times. It's called getting in a rut. When going either of these routes, rarely reviewing anyone or only reviewing within your clique, keep in mind that you will also see fewer visitors to your part of the Web/Den. If you're fine with that, then great! (I go through periods when I avoid reviews actually, usually it's a kind of creative meditative state that engulfs me and I don't want the noise of other people's thoughts.)
But usually when I review less, I'm busy, as I'm sure it is for many writers. My reasons notwithstanding, I gather from statistics programs that during these periods, my lack of participation works not only against me in terms of getting reviews, but visits to my sites overall drop. I'm not saying here that you should visit and comment on the work of others just to be seen and say nice things just to get reviews. That's so tacky and hypocritical, but don't discount the value of being seen. Surely there's someone's work you like other than your own and your own special clique.
Another loss you suffer when you don't "go boldy" where you have not gone before, "to seek out new life," is you lose the opportunity to network with authors who are farther along than you are on the road to success or you equal. These types of connections may result in your knowing an agent, a publisher, or collaborating with another author who will draw more attention to your work. I speak of professional connections, not friendship.
Some authors make the mistake of assuming reviews are about being social or "making friends." Your fellow writers are colleagues first, possibly friends later if you have similar interests and like each other. Colleagues don't have to like each other to review work fairly. Colleagues don't have to be your friend. Consequently, it's a mistake to equate commenting on another author's work with being a friend. While frienship is nice, writing is a business.
Think of the acting industry. I'm sure there are actors whose work you find admirable, but you have no desire to become a friend of that actor because you see clearly that person is not the type you'd have as a friend. I love the work of Russell Crowe, and give him high marks when reviewing his work as an actor; however, from what I've seen of him in interviews and heard of his behavior toward women, I doubt I'd enjoy being of his friend. So, reviewing is not about friendship but about being a professional.
What brought these thoughts to mind for me is, sadly, the death of Gerald LeVert and the number of hits the tribute/poem page is getting. The hits are high because the death is in the news not because I've been busy reviewing others. I doubt many people from the Den itself have been to the page. What I've been busy doing is updating posts related to Mr. LeVert because I can see people are reading the content. I've been busy properly labeling posts in my Jersey Goddess blog because it's clear new visitors are reading more than what I've written about the late singer. They're checking my older work, poetry, articles, fiction, and the work of other authors, like AuthorsDen's Sandra Mushi, who I've spotlighted in my blog.
I've noticed that the people visiting, who are mainly NOT AuthorsDen members, are not only visiting my poem here, but they're also clicking links and visiting my other work on other sites. So, anyone who's left a comment on the page that stirs the interest of these visitors probably will get new visitors to their work also.
Authors who leave comments on that page are more visible to the general population because it's the general public and not AuthorsDen members only, who make up the majority of visitors right now. In other words:If you comment and say something provocative or moving, then the non AuthorsDen members who visit that page may decide to check out your work. It's a simple way to publicize your presence as a writer on the web. Comment often and in many places. I ONLY used the Gerald LeVert poem page, a repost, as an example, and because it's receiving so much Internet attention. The "comment, comment, comment" principle applies to any poem you visit by any author. It boosts your own visibility.
Your choice not to visit certain people even when you recognize the work is good, only harms your visibility, not theirs. After all, while we may like getting comments from our fellow authors, we serious writers know it's visibility we pay for here at AuthorsDen, and ultimately, no matter how much we're loved on this site, it's the broader public and professional publishers we need to reach if we want to make a living as writers.
Nordette
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