Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Friday, August 5, 2011
(I've held off on this for a few days because frankly, it may be a bit ranty, and the heat isn't helping.)
A trend I've noticed lately is authors (and sometimes musicians) doing their PR in a "persona." You've settled on Godfrey von Goggles as a pen name, and by golly, you're going to create a Godfrey von Goggles character and share him with the world in hopes it will sell books. Sometimes that works. But there's a line that you want to consider crossing with care.
Part of your self-promotional efforts will involve soliciting reviews and arranging signings, convention appearances, concerts, what have you. These are business arrangements, and you should not transact these in your persona. Which approach looks more professional to you?
Dear ____:
My name is John Author, and I write under the name of Godfrey von Goggles. My book(s) ____ are published by _____. (Insert short synopsis/cover blurb kind of stuff here.) I am contacting you to arrange _____/ ask if it's possible to appear at your convention/ request you review my book. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yep, that's kind of boring, but it gets the point across. Then there's this approach:
Greetings!
My name is Professor Godfrey von Goggles. The journals of my adventures and aethographic experiments performed at the request of the Queen are now available to the general public to peruse!
That works for your Godfrey von Goggles web site, but when you approach people like bookstore managers and reviewers, they want to know who they're dealing with. They'll probably have no problem billing you as Godfrey von Goggles, but why waste their time (and yours) hiding behind your persona when you can cut through more barriers by being yourself?
Give it some thought, and have a good weekend.