Discuss Me Some for Jan: Susan Helene Gottfried

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Thea Atkinson — Leave a comment

First up will be Susan Helene Gottfried author of Trevor’s Song

(after a few days, this post will move solely tot he discuss me some tab)

Before we get going with this guest blog post, please join me in thanking Thea for allowing me to be here with you today. Come to think of it, I ought to thank you faithful readers for sharing Thea with me; we’ve gotten to know each other over the past month or so, which might mean I’ve been stealing her away from you.

I’m not even entirely certain how Thea and I met. I suspect it was because of a thread at a book-related discussion board, where you were supposed to post your Facebook fan pages and everyone else would come by and Like it. In return, you had to Like everyone else in the thread.

You know: it’s one of those things you sign up for with your focus squarely on upping your own numbers. You may or may not go through the motions of liking everyone else, even though you’ve said you would. Personally, I suppressed my omnipresent need to misbehave and … liked the whole list of folk. And then started talking to them, too. I bet there are authors out there wondering who the heck I am and what I want.

One of those people was surely Thea. She posted a need for authors, and I jumped on it. I don’t like to walk away from easy promotion, you see, and what Thea was offering was better than easy. It was easy and good.

Rate Me Some, it’s called. I hope you’ve seen it ’cause I’m totally on board with this new promotional tool.

The genius lies in the method. Thea lists a book’s back cover copy and asks you to vote for the one you’d like to read. There’s no cover art, no author’s name, no nothing. It’s just words.

I can’t tell you exactly why I love this idea so much that I keep Tweeting about it. Truthfully, it’s got nothing to do with my book, Trevor’s Song, being one of the January titles. (I’m only telling you this because it’s the end of the month and voting’s about to close.)

I like that it’s unique — I don’t think anyone else is doing this sort of fun promo. I also like how we all get to be literary agents or editors, making a choice about a book based on what a book ought to be based on: the ideas making it up and the words we authors choose to express those ideas. There’s something pure in the lack of packaging, and in such a confusing, convoluted world (not to mention the twists and turns of the publishing world), this purity is refreshing. I mean, if you’re a writer, haven’t YOU ever said, “If I were an agent or editor, I’d have never picked this?” Or “How could they have overlooked it???”

Here’s your chance, gang. And in the meantime, it gives three authors every month some exposure, and exposure’s always a good thing. It’s new. It’s different. And it’s something we can ALL play with, whether or not our books are included.

So c’mon. Join me. Tell me what you like about it — or what you think Thea ought to change. She’s here, keeping an eye on me to make sure I behave. Maybe she’ll even listen to you.