Okay, so with all the goodreads reviewer/author hullabaloo lately (if you have no idea what I'm talking about that's good. Stay that way. :) ), I've learned some important lessons.
Most of which I already knew, but it only reinforced, so...YAY for learning! :) But now I find myself in a bit of a quandry. As many of you know, I've just revealed my gorgeous cover and a few of you have already put RENEGADE for your WoW Wendnesdays, which tickles me pink. That's not my dilema--I love everyone of you who have said you wanted to read my book, or added it to goodreads, or...well, the list goes on and on really. What my question is, is this: What am I supposed to do when someone links me to their post mentioning my book--whether that post be a review, a WoW Wednesday, a cover love post, or whatever, what do I do?
We've learned from the goodreads drama that authors should never, never, never, never respond to reviews (whether they're good OR bad), but what if the person WANTS you to read it? What if it's not a review?
I've seen some authors who retweet every good mention or post or whathaveyou, but I've heard that's a no-no. That you shouldn't retweet that praise yourself, that you should let others do that for you. But I'm wondering, if because of these other authors doing that, if readers expect that and when it doesn't happen, if they feel they're being snubbed (Which is the LAST thing I want to do.)
And if someone truly wants me to know they mentioned my book (they tweeted me the link after all) I want to acknowledge them. Just because they took the time to let me know what they did. Plus I have a personal policy to answer EVERY blog/FB comment, tweet mention, email, etc. I WANT to have that personal connection with my readers.
But I also understand some readers may not want that personal connection. They may see my re-tweet of their post or whathaveyou as intrusive or bothersome. Maybe they even feel like I'm reading over their shoulder. And I definitely don't want that.
So where is the happy middle-ground here? How do I respond to the people who've pointed me to their post? And while I haven't come across this yet, I'm sure I will. What if that post isn't a good one? Do I acknowledge it with a thank you? Or leave it be?
