Writers love to admit they're terrible at sales and marketing. Somehow, if they admit they're bad at it, they think it means they're off the hook. "Well, I'm just a writer, I'm not a marketer." Or: "I don't feel comfortable selling—I feel like I'm selling myself out." Or, best of all: "I would never shill my book." (Or, sometimes, "I don't have the time and money to self-promote." Egregious error! But to be addressed some other time.)

I have two philosophies to share with all writers:

1. If done correctly, marketing and promoting your book does not mean you are selling out or shilling.
   
2. Even the most introverted writers, with no marketing and promotion experience, can take effective, meaningful steps to sell and publicize their books.

These concepts are at the front of my mind lately because I'm working with author Christina Katz on her upcoming fall 2008 book, Get Known Before the Book Deal.

The concept I find us returning to, again and again, is one of authenticity.

AUTHENTICITY works two ways.

First, whatever you do to market and promote yourself and your work, it needs to feel good to you. It needs to make you even more excited and passionate. It should not feel like bad medicine, otherwise you won't do it. Your efforts should fit with who you are as a person (build on your strengths) and make sense in the big picture of your career.

Second, your actions need to appear genuine and authentic to your intended audience. Your actions should be from a "real" person offering a benefit (whether that's information or entertainment); you should not be just another huckster selling another widget. Nobody likes a shill, so don't be one.

Your marketing and promoting journey (which is really about platform-building too) involves leveraging who you already are (in an honest way), identifying and understanding your readership (in a genuine way), developing your own unique approach to that readership (that feels good to everyone), and building an authentic connection. People should trust you.

Now for the latest conundrum Christina and I have discussed.

What about author blog tours, where the author pays for the promotional opportunity. Is that shilling?

What about the bloggers who promote products for companies in their blogs (for money or free stuff)?

What about authors (or coaches/consultants) who employ the you-plug-my-product and I'll-plug-yours strategy?

Is this stuff shilling?

I don't think there's a clear-cut answer because it involves so many factors, but whenever there's pay for play, or a quid pro quo, your authenticity comes into question. Or, even if it doesn't come into question, why would you want to invest your time, money, or energy into anything other than a genuine and authentic opportunity to reach or serve your target readership? Sometimes, when you pay for a certain type of promotion or publicity (or accept fringe benefits in exchange for helping someone else promote), the results are less quality. You hurt yourself in the long run. (If marketing and self-promotion were only about having enough money, couldn't we all just pay for enough of it to make our books bestsellers? But it's not that easy.)

To be clear:
It's absolutely shilling if you're touring blogs with audiences who aren't interested in your book/expertise; it's shilling if you promote products or companies for quick gain (and not out of a true partnership, or a desire to give your readers a benefit); it's shilling if you're pushing any kind of product-person-service that you don't believe in and/or that isn't related to your readers. It's about your relationship with your readership. Put yourself in your readers' shoes; would it look like shilling to them? Would it look questionable? (Do you look desperate or gross doing it?) Then don't do it.

I would love to get your viewpoints on the questions above. What have your experiences been? Do you think it's OK to pay for play? When does an author cross the line into shilling?