A few days ago, somebody asked me why I review books and videos by other people if I have my own to sell. Isn’t that just counterproductive?
These questions started a long, meandering conversation. I did my best to explain my reasons but I’m not sure if it all came a cross the way I intended, which lead up to this post. I’ll try to limit the meandering, but some is necessary as in my mind, it’s all connected. So please bear with me while I get to my point all the way at the end. There are vampires involved, by the way…
It’s not about being awesome
First of all, these questions are valid and worth answering. I don’t see my way of doing things as a problem, but I understand why others might be confused by it. When I look at how many authors in the self-defense and martial arts niche do business, it’s often along the lines of “BUY MY STUFF! IT’S AWESOME!!!” That may or may not be true, but you don’t have to shout it out loud all the time. Also, the implied message is all too often that all the other products out there aren’t as awesome…
I’m generalizing to make a point, I know not every single author does that. Also, to an extent, my own publishers use ad copy that I personally wouldn’t write. So all in all, it’s pretty much the normal way of promoting products in this niche and I get that. There’s a need for marketing and good ad copy whenever you have something for sale, I totally agree with that. But there’s no reason why you have to go over the top with it. Nor do you have to tear down other products to show how good yours is, which brings me to my first point: [Read more…]