Tag Archives: publishing

Misleading Advert Blog Posts

Be forewarned: This post may delve into rant territory, but I shall do my best to avoid mentioning names/specific examples. (Granted, if you’ve looked into this subject, I’m sure you’ve seen plenty…)

I hate blog posts that claim to be ‘How-To’s’ or ‘Guides’ in the title that turn out to be nothing more than advertisements for another product.

The novel I’ve been working on is coming ever closer to that fateful moment where it hits the self-published shelves, and as such I’ve been reading a lot of author/book/publishing blogs for advice, tips, etc. A great deal of it’s been really helpful and informative, and I’ve discovered a few authors that have been tacked on my To-Read list.

But every once in a while, you see that blog title that says something along the lines of “How to-” or “Mistakes not to make-” or something comparable–only to discover the blog post is just an advert to send you to a book or podcast that they wrote on the subject.

This has successfully created a new pet-peeve of mine.

Don’t get me wrong, if people want to write self-help books and advertise them: that’s awesome. It is, and I wish them all the luck with making money and getting the word out using their advise and experience in a much more in-depth format.

Just make it clear you’re advertising a book – in the title.

Good blogs, are informative (or entertaining). That’s the point of wanting to read them and some people are doing this very, very well. The content of their posts are what’s stated in the title – yay!

Others, not so much. When your title is (just an example): “How to Publish on Kindle” – I expect some tips and advise on how to publish a book on a Kindle, not an outline summary of the book you’re selling. I feel like I’ve been cheated. Is it a good marketing strategy to get hits? Sure. Does it work? I think no–mostly because I’m so aggravated it’s another internet ad in disguise that I don’t even click the book link on principle. I don’t like feeling aggravated.

How do you fix this? Call it out in the title: “A How To Book On Publishing With Kindle.” Or Even “New Book To Help With Kindle” or something. Make it catchy, but make sure it’s obvious your blog post is advertising a book in some way.

Don’t make me think I’m going to read a blog post with informative content when there is none.

Thank you.

On a side tangent – Authors who blog? Please, please stop mentioning your own books over and over again in your posts. Especially if it’s the same book in every post. I know your’e sharing your personal stories, but it starts to just feel like a name drop after a while. Even if your articles are great and informative, it gets tedious seeing that same book and cover over and over and over. Advertise your books in the side column; I know you wrote them.

Ah, ranting complete.