When Does Self Promotion Become Spam?

The truth is, I don't know the answer to this question. But it's one that's been on my mind a lot lately.

As an author with two books about to be released next year, I think the line between self promotion and spam is getting fuzzier and fuzzier. In fact, I can't seem to go onto Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, or even check my own email without getting bombarded by it. And, what I don't think some authors realize is that, when they bombard me with spam, not only does it annoy me greatly, but it makes me not want to buy their book purely out of spite.

Here's a list of my top offenders:

1. Automatically adding me to your Facebook Group. No. Just no. You can mention your group on your Twitter feed or your Facebook update but DON'T automatically add me to it. Because if you do, and you live within a hundred mile radius to me, I will spoon your yard.

2. Sending me multiple "Like my page!" emails. Grrr. Again, you can mention your author/book page on your blog/feed and give a link. But please don't repeatedly spam me or yard spoonage will occur.

3. Your tweets, status updates, and blog are nothing but a never ending commercial for your book. There is a reason why there is no channel on television dedicated to nothing but commercials. It's because people HATE commercials. In all forms! SPOOOOOOOOOON TIME!

Here are some trickier offenders:

1. Inviting people to events through Goodreads and Facebook. While I hate these, I understand why authors feel the need to do it. If you're hosting an event, such as a book launch, you're going to want as many people to know about it as possible. But maybe a direct email to people in your area would be a better, more personable option. Chances are, if your launch is in Houston and I'm in St. Louis, I'm not going to show. In fact, if I see an email with "Event Invitation", honestly, I don't even read them--automatic delete.

2. Reposting tweets from a reviewer about how much they enjoyed your book. I can see why people do this. They're excited about the good review and they want to thank the reviewer publicly. But I'll be honest, I have NEVER clicked on one of these review links and read the review. Have you?

Again, this post is purely my opinion. What do you think about these self-promotion techniques? Do you think I'm being too harsh, or do they annoy you, too? Maybe you don't care? Is there something I've forgotten to add to the list? Or is there something an author's done to promote themselves that you thought really worked--such as a contest or anything else? Please let me know because I'm very curious as to what everyone thinks about this.

Converting a Man's XL T-Shirt into a Sexy Dolman

Tomorrow I leave for Dragoncon!!! SQUEE! And, while I didn't have time to make my Jem costume this year (boo), I did want to dress appropriately. This means sporting my favorite comic book characters on my shirts. However, this leads to a slight problem. When it comes to comic book character shirts, there are only two kinds: A) Big baggy shirts designed for men and B) Skinny tight-fitting shirts designed for, well, girls who can wear skinny tight fitting shirts. I am not one of those girls. I have had a child, my friends. 'Nuff said.

But, just because the girls sag and the waist is padded, this doesn't mean I don't like feeling sexy. Enter the dolman shirt, God's gift to child-bearing woman. Seriously, I want to kiss whoever designed this thing. Here's my favorite one:

See what I mean? It's pretty hard to go wrong with this shirt. It hides the things that need to be hidden all the while maintaining a sexy feminine look. I wanted to see if I could do the same thing with a T-shirt. Here's what I did:

I took a men's XL T-shirt, turned it inside out, and laid it flat on my cutting table.

 Next, I laid my favorite dolman shirt on top of it, pinned the two shirts together, and used a water soluable fabric pen to trace the outline of my dolman on top of the tee.

 When I was finished with my outline, I unpinned the shirts and cut both the front and the back of the neck out of the tee by using the lines I traced from the neck of my dolman.

(Back neckline cut)

(Front neckline cut)

Next, I sewed along the lines I'd traced onto the tee.

 When I was finished sewing, I cut away the excess fabric.

Then I cut a couple inches off of the bottom of the shirt.

 And sewed a hem.

Talk about easy! A half hour later, I had my end result. 

(BEFORE/AFTER)

Now I'm ready for Dragoncon!!!

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!