I came for your funny blog title and stayed for the blog. :) Very interesting perspectves. I'm of the mind that you sometimes do all the by-the-book promotional and social networking tasks and still have to wait for people to find you. From what I've seen, it seems like the folks who've been on Twitter, blogs, et. al, the longest and post frequently, have gained a slow, steady following.

I think in the internet age you have to give people something first to sell them something later.

In Free, Chris Andserson discusses this (I actually only read the book because I got it as a free kindle download). You give away something for free to get folks to buy something else. Now, he is mostly talking about giving away cable boxes so people buy the digital cable, but this model actually works for bookselling as well.

For example, a lot of people follow Colleen Lindsay, Rachelle Gardner, and Nathan Bransford for their agently advice. Bransford used to answer questions in the forums on absolutewrite. Not only that, but for a while he did intervies on every website you can think of and he was EVERYWHERE. This drove a lot of people to his blog, where he can now dispense the same advice but with a platform. After all, he has hundreds of writers hanging on to his every word. Who buys more books than writers?

The goal is to offer people something that they feel they won't get anywhere else. It doesn't always have to be adivice. Miss Snark's First Victim has contests where potential writers can pitch an agent without worrying about getting lost in the slush pile. YA Book Reviews gives away several books each month. The agents at Bookends did a twit-pitch contest to drive followers to their Twitter account.

The goal is to make people think they're getting the better end of the deal, that gives you the opportunity to market to them.

I'm not sure that a zillion followers on Twitter makes a difference. Maybe it's the core 150 people real friends, and the 150 real friends each of those has, and so on - maybe that's what makes the difference.

Off to look up Candor now; I'm always looking for potential bestsellers, and cult novels, to review.

Well, let's see. I found you here, then on twitter. Then developed a little non-stalkerish girl crush, then I sent you my query.

I think that agents and clients need to work together to keep that buzz going on the internet. If they are honest and authentic (SO IMPORTANT) the people will come. "if you build it....blah blah"

When I started my blog I was writing for editing practice while I queried my first novel.... I wrote and I wrote. And then... people started reading it! And they stay and they comment on what I write there. It is something I never expected, but learned from. Facebook and twitter too. The more I throw myself into the party, the more partygoers compliment my dress, ya know?

Anywho, whatever you are doing, you're doing it right, because here I am leaving a comment from a twitter post, waiting to hear back from you regarding my query, and planning on not only buying that book, but reading it and then telling my own blog followers to do the same.

Nice work. Now go eat something.

I agree that more contests would help you breakout, but I'm not sure it would help your authors. Writers (like myself) read Nathan, Rachel, Kristin, Colleen... because they want help getting their own books published. I'm not sure I would read a book just because an agent said it was good, especially if that agent represented the book. People don't trust opinions from people who have a financial interest in the thing they are promoting. This may not be right, but it is what it is. We are suspicious beings. And we rarely floss...despite what we tells our dentists! :-)

Now, if you got other writers to say they loved a book, that would make me read it. For example, I love Meg Cabot. If Meg Cabot tweeted, "I love Candor!" I would think, "Wow, if Meg likes it..."

I don't know. I get a little frustrated myself. My blog is gaining more followers, and I'm getting a few more comments. I have over 300 followers on Twitter. And it's taken me nearly 6 months just to get that.

We do interviews and people really like those.

We do book reviews and people seem to like those.

We do OT weeks that are *shakes head* kinda funny and people REALLY like those.

Honestly, the only thing I've found that really works is to keep the readers guessing. "Are you going to be saying the same thing everyone else is, or are you going to surprise me?"

But...that's just what I've found. Variety and sometimes more than just a little zany. One of our OT weeks was about horrific true stories and I talked about this train wrech of a relationship with the moral of the story don't pick up men in bagpipe bands. It was hysterical and people really loved that. And it had nothing to do with writing. Sometimes, I think, OT is okay.

Your honesty in this post is going to resonate with people. Being real elicits trust, not surprisingly. And being deeply real shows that you have skin in the game and will expose yourself to… okay… wait. That was going in a weird direction.

But laying your cards out does show that you are a thinking person who is in it for the betterment of all concerned. You make money. Authors make money. Publishers make money. Readers have access to quality books. A simple truth spoken plainly will stick with people far longer than shouts and red rubber noses. People you interact with will want to see you again and enter into that personal circle again. Such places are energizing.

As for CANDOR, which I enjoyed, I had a thought along the lines of shouts and red rubber noses. Are flash events out of fashion? Can a CANDOR Facebook group and 1800 Twitter fans be called on to form an influx of people who dress and act like they are from that town? Could these people be convinced to swarm into book stores and signing events? Can this be filmed and spread in Facebook and YouTube?

For me, an agent's promotion of their author is usually my introduction to the author or book, but it's the repeated exposure from other sources (even if retweeted/shared by the agent or author) that often makes me buy. It creates a feeling that I'm really missing something great, which pushes it to the top of my TBR pile. This can be expedited by twitter plugs, blog features, reviews, and contests because more and more people will link, retweet, and share their thoughts on the book.

However, I think the KEY is to keep promoting long after the book has been released. There are a lot of books I really want to read, so I need that word of mouth to push a new release above the others. If I hear a ton about the book in the first month it's out, that's great, but it probably hasn't been elevated on my TBR list yet. If I keep hearing about it long after the initial release excitement, I'm more likely to beleive it truly is something I NEED to get my hands on and then I do, putting it above other books that have been waiting around a lot longer.

Just personal thoughts, of course.

I think you've done a fine job with Candor so far. I haven't bought it yet but it's pretty high up on my list.

WHAT? You don't sell 8-year-old Toyotas as well???

P.S. I agree that it's flawed. There's no question that agents are THE gatekeepers at the door for "Great Books".

I have to say that I found your blog while looking up your guidelines on submission and was instantly hooked. Your snippets are entertaining, insightful, funny, and educating. Wait...let me wipe some of the brown stuff off my nose! But, seriously, I initially read to get an idea as to whether your agency suited my work. I keep coming back to see what you and Caren have to say.

Side note: After reading about CANDOR on here, I went right out, bought it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, something you're doing must be working!

One thing that agent can offer for free on their blogs is advice. I know you have offered a lot of advice, which is extremely helpful. On another blog I read, the agent offered advice, but included examples from her clients. Very smart. Her post was about query letters and she included actual examples from clients. I actually went out and bought one of the books based on the query.

Yes, more contests. But not just contests. You have to give people the illusion that they can be a part of something (listen to me, I sound so jaded). Sometimes the thing you're giving away is a sense of belonging.

One of the contests Nathan uses pretty regularly with a bit of success (and much participation) is to be a guest blogger for a day. People like the opportunity to feel like they're part of his world, which seems glamorous when all you want is for someone to read your damn query and like your book ( writers are so needy). The validation (or the possibility of validation) of having an agent like *anything* keeps people coming back to Nathan's blog. So yes, contests work.

But I think honesty works as well. People like it when agents talk about their upcoming projects, but to me it's even more awesome when agents talk about projects that aren't theirs. It gives a level of credibility that no amount of free advice can buy.

I think a lot of the issue stems from writers seeing agents as somehow above the unwashed masses of the unpublished, sitting on high and handing down judgement. The more you can do to dispel this myth, the further you're going to get in building a platform where you can talk up the things you love.

I think you're doing a really good job of staying in the forefront of the writer's community, but I don't think the average book buyer reads agency websites. They do read book review sites. And a surprising number of book reviwers are aspiring writers. So maybe the answer is a blog tour just like debut authors do. I know most of the YA review sites (can't speak to MG) are always looking for interviews to bulk up their content. Do more interviews. I'm not sure how effective it is for an agent to do that, but I always read review sites when I know there's going to be an author interview up. About three out of five times I buy the book (but I buy a lot of books so I may be the exception).

Maybe the answer is that you are doing all you can to help your authors, now you need to impart the knowledge on them for them to help themselves. I think Pam has done a really great job with Candor. Publicity is such a fickle thing, who knows whether ever works or not.

Hi Elana!
I am a member of SCBWI Western Washington and had the pleasure of attending your lecture last fall in Seattle. I loved your direct, no-holds-barred sense of humor and look forward to seeing you again whenever chance permits. By the way, as per your suggestion on that very lecture I purchased "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" and LOVED IT! So thanks for that.

But regarding the matter at hand, it was also through SCBWI that I had the pleasure, on another occasion, of listening to Greg Pincus talk about what he calls "social media". I thought you might get something of use from his blog at http://www.thehappyaccident.net . He is very approachable, and I bet if you "friend him" on facebook he might be able to answer your questions directly (though not face to face, regardless of the website's blatantly misleading name)

Good luck!

Núria Coe

Elana,

The one thing that drew me to your blog, as a writer and fellow blogger, is your sincerity. Your humor keeps me here. You seem to have integrity in that you are who you present yourself to be. This is key in my book.

Contests and prizes are fun, but most of my favorite bloggers don't hos these. Instead, they give of themselves to the benefit of others through advice, snippets of their lives and insight into their professions.

I read somewhere that it takes three years to build a platform and the only way to do so is by being genuine. I would rather have 15 followers that I connect with than 1,500 followers who jumped on the band wagon but don't really care one way or another.

Does Twitter sell books? Who knows. Many authors I know don't really believe it does. Does word of mouth from someone I respect sell books? Heck yeah!

I wish you the best in working through this conundrum.

Elana -

You pose interesting questions, a few of which have been on my mind lately as well. How can a blogger distinguish themselves when it seems everyone has a blog? As an aspiring author, I've been toying with the idea of starting my own - but I had to ask myself the same thing SM brought up. Do I truly have any more insights into the life of an aspiring author than the thousands of other hopefuls? Then my Id shutup and my Ego kicked in and told me that of course I did. Now I need the free time to make that happen.

By the way, if it makes you feel any better about CANDOR - I'm a YA librarian and our only copy was paid the highest compliment of being stolen only a few weeks after we bought it. So, there's at least one more sale lurking out there, if my PO ever comes back from the main office.

True Elana, but it did serve as an excellent example when I tried to explain irony to a classroom of 7th graders earlier this week :)

Elana,

Very insightful blog. I met you at the backspace conference this year and certainly feel that events like this will help you ‘break out’. At the conference there were certain agents - Colleen, Joanna, Miriam - to name a few, that people were really buzzing about meeting.

I don’t know if you stayed for the mixer, but my observations of it was that some agents moved off into smaller agent groups and it is hard for authors to approach them like this. However, to use Colleen again, she planted herself in the middle of a large group of authors and moved around, working the room. She was at the bar that night as well and was the agent that the group of people I was with talked about the most.

These are the people that will then go home, write about it on their blogs and the forums they frequent. So I suppose I’m saying that conferences are not just about giving advice and finding authors, it is also about selling yourself. Hang around after, mingle, tell us about yourself. Then next time they will be buzzing about meeting you!

Talking about forums, have you thought about doing a guest spot in ‘ask the agent' on Absolute Write? These get tons of hits and are a good way of letting people know more about you and the agency.

I read Candor after seeing it on your website when I was doing my agent research for the conference. And I loved it!
Best wishes
Gem

I've thought about trust and whether people like me or not, and then decided not to worry. I can only be myself and as long as I'm honest the rest seems to fall into place. The best blogs are the ones where the author shares more than their profession. It's a curious business.

Elana,

As you know, you must earn trust and you have done that (and continue to do so). There are many ways to gimmick your way to followers, fans or minions. Whatever you do, don't become "that person." You don't need gimmicks, sideshows, dogs or ponies. Quite frankly, find your niche. Those other agents have found theirs, you will find yours. Talk when you have something interesting to say. If not, remain as you are. Whatever you do, don't become a used car salesman for your client's books. I see some agents heading in that direction and I can tell you, zoot suits don't look good on them. Guide your clients as you have, be a voice in the community and snark on. We love that about you. Don't jump on the bandwagon. A person's "net-worth" is not judged in the number of followers but the quality of followers. Your clients must take responsibility for the sales of their books and take advantage of the same opportunities out there as everyone else. You cannot single-handedly sell CANDOR--though I applaud your efforts and interest in doing so. You know I'm here, if you need anything.

Cheers-
Georgia

Hi, Elana - I wish there were a magic formula said X number of Twitter followers + Y blog readers = Z copies sold, but it doesn't work that way. Each case is different, each relationship different. Still, as you make more and more connections online, your voice carries out into more and more communities. Yes, sometimes you can directly make book sales (Chris Brogan did one "ask" for his book, for example, and it debuted on the NYTimes business best-seller list). But more often there's a cumulative effect, and it's very rarely linear... and this can either be frustrating or liberating, depending on how you look at it.

It's hard for an agent to say "buy my client's book" and feel like a totally trusted source.But getting your client's name out in front of people, being a trusted source so that we figure that we can also "trust" your clients, can help spread the word. If the old rule of thumb of advertising was that it takes seven "impressions" before you get through, you and your online reach can help with that, even if it's hard to quantify explicitly.

Imagine a customer in a bookstore looking at two books that they can't decide between. They recognize the author's name on one of them because someone they know and trust has mentioned it. Which book are they more likely to buy? What if one of their peers recommended the book? (And what if that peer had heard of the book initially from a mention by you?) Now which one are they likely to buy? If all else is equal, it's a coinflip... but social media can make it so that all else isn't equal.

As for what else you can do... I think folks who find you DO trust you and follow along. So if you want bigger numbers, I think it's really about increasing how many people run into you. Then, if you're offering something that's of value to them - tips, ideas, thoughts, recommendations but NOT aggressive selling - they'll follow along, just like the 1800 on Twitter already have.