Monday 17 September 2012

Claire Ridgway - Keeping Your Integrity in the World of Self-Publishing


Keeping Your Integrity in the World of Self-Publishing
by Claire Ridgway
I love Rudyard Kipling's poem “If”, it is a beautiful poem full of good advice from a father to a son, and actually contains good advice for us all. In the first verse, Kipling writes:

“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;”

These words have resonated with me recently, as authors have hit the press on an almost daily basis for their lack of integrity - for paying for reviews, for faking reviews, for attacking reviewers or being unprofessional on social media. The actions of a minority of authors can bring the whole publishing world into disrepute, and it often seems that when one self-published acts out then all self-published authors get tarred with the same brush. It's sad, but true.

Kipling goes on to talk of keeping your “virtue” and that's what we as authors have to do, we have to keep our integrity. When we publish a book, write a blog post, update our Facebook status or tweet, then the world is watching and we will be judged by what we put out there in the public domain. We have to think before we write, we have to stop having knee jerk reactions and keep our rantings and ravings offline. We have all heard about people losing their jobs because of things they've written on social media, and what we write can lose us or gain us readers. We have to think of ourselves as celebrities with the paparazzi just waiting for us to put a step wrong. We have to act 100% professionally online and to make sure that everything we write is in accordance with the public persona we want our readers to believe in. This doesn't mean that we can't be ourselves, it just means that we have to be the best part of ourselves.

Tips for keeping your integrity as an author:
·      Ignore bad reviews – Don't comment and start a review/comment war. Readers want to review books without the fear of an author jumping down their throats.
·      Communicate with readers in a friendly and polite manner.
·      As author Kristen Ashley says, “Treat your readers as they are. Precious.” - Don't take them for granted, but, instead, respect them.
·      Don't fake reviews or do anything that could come back to bite you one day.
·      Treat other authors and competitors with respect – Don't criticise someone else's book just to “big up” yours.
·      Don't whine and complain – Whine and complain to your other half, but don't do it online, you'll just look desperate and pathetic.
·      Give your readers a quality book – Don't publish until your book has been professionally edited and is the best that it can be.

I'm sure that you can think of other ways to keep your integrity and to avoid bringing your name and the world of writing and publishing into disrepute.

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre - NonFiction
Rating - G
More details about the authors & the book

 Connect with Claire Ridgway & Tim Ridgway on Twitter & Facebook

1 comments:

Bruce said...

Absolutely LOVE it! Thanks!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Books Sold - 6 Nov 2011 to 31 May 2012

Some of you have asked me for my total number of books sold to evaluate KDP Select so here it is. Bear in mind, that results will vary based on genre and author. Good luck and remember, Keep Moving Forward.

Total - 120,836

1. Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out
Amazon Kindle - 42,559
Paperback -
Smashwords -

2. Frequent Traveller
Amazon Kindle - 35277
Paperback -
Smashwords -

3. Dora's Essentials - Books, Blogs & Smiles 1
Amazon Kindle - 462
Smashwords -

4. Mirror Me Martha (Short Story)
Amazon Kindle - 281
Smashwords -

5. Drive On Hope (Short Story)
Amazon Kindle - 190
Smashwords -

6. Blog-A-Licious Directory 2012
Amazon Kindle - 1
Smashwords -

7. Pandora's Reading Room 1
Amazon Kindle -
Paperback - N/A

8. The Cat That Barked (Short Story)
Amazon Kindle -

9. Dora's Essentials - Examining Anxiety
Amazon Kindle -

10. Dora's Essentials - Books, Blogs & Smiles 2
Amazon Kindle -

11. Elevenses from Around the World
Amazon Kindle -

12. Genetically Modified Foods vs. Sustainability
Amazon Kindle -

Blog-A-Licius - Sherbet Blossom

SherbetBlossom

Blog-A-Licious

Dealightfully Frugal

Blog-A-Licious - The Few, The Proud, The Wife

Blog-A-Licious

My Soul Slippers

Blog-A-Licous - Textbook Mommy

Blog-A-Licious - Blue Frogs Legs

Blog-A-Licious - Pretty All True

Pretty All True

Blog-A-Licious - tbaoo

tbaoo

Blog-A-Licious

Powered by BannerFans.com

Blog-A-Licious - The Invisible Art

Blog-A-Licious - Rediscovering Domesticity

Rediscovering Domesticity

Blog-A-Licious - Quiver Full

Blog-A-Licious - Cori's Big Mouth

Blog-A-Licious - Great Fun

Greatfun4kids

Blog-A-Licious - Busy Wife

Blog-A-Licious - Steps To Happiness

Powered by BannerFans.com

Blog-A-Licious - Toby & Max


Blog-A-Licious - Amelie

Raising Amelie

Blog-A-Licious - Peas In A Pod

Blog-A-Licious - Riley

Blognostics - Poetry

BlogNostics

My Awards - September 2010

My Awards - September 2010
Awarded By Jo Frances

My Awards - May 2011

My Awards - May 2011
Awarded By Alejandro Guzman

My Awards - May 2011

My Awards - May 2011
Awarded by Kriti Mukherjee

My Awards - April 2011

My Awards - April 2011
Awarded By Roy Durham

My Awards - June 2011

My Awards - June 2011
Awarded By Sulekha Rawat

Book Blogs Community

Indie Author Blog Hop


indie author blog hop
Previous | Home | Join | Random | Next

In Support Of

In Support Of

Support Me - KIVA

Celebrating Authors

Book Signing @

Read Me - E.Zine Articles

Copyscape

Protected by Copyscape Online Plagiarism Software