The limits of generosity in the author community

I help authors succeed. That’s my brand.

Don’t abuse it.

Look: I am generous with my time. It’s my instinct to help. If you’re a first-time author, you probably have lots of questions about books; I’m likely to spend 30-40 minutes on the phone with you. I’m also likely to give your recommendations for which publishers, hybrid publishers, or self-publishing services to work with.

If you need help with idea development or editing, I’ll give you a quote on those paid services. Sometimes you’ll hire me; sometimes you won’t. Either way, I’ll wish you well.

My friends will also often tap me to provide recommendations. Hybrid publishers, editors, and publicists often send me authors who are considering working with them. I give those authors lots of detail about what it will be like to work with the partners who sent them to me. That includes both the many positives and the caveats. I still focus on the needs of the author, but that honesty is why both the authors and those who serve them trust me.

After these interactions, you and I will be connected. After all, we’re both part of the author community. We tend to help each other.

Up to a point.

Limits

Let’s talk about what not do if someone is generous with their time.

I recently had an author ask me to provide an endorsement quote for their book. My only previous interaction with that author was when we talked about idea development and editing help, and I recommended some hybrid publishers they might work with. They picked one of those publishers and got their editing help from the publisher, rather than from me.

That’s a great outcome.

But this is a book about a management topic I know nothing about. As a result, my endorsement would be worthless. I am not this author’s close friend. Why would they think I’d take the time to endorse their book, which would be time-consuming for me and worthless to them?

Another author first interacted with me to get a recommendation for a hybrid publisher. I was happy to spend time with them and they ended up working with that publisher. They then added me to their newsletter mailing list without asking. Many months later, now that the book is about to be published, they have reached out with suggestions on how I could boost it on social media. It’s not on a topic I or my followers would be interested in.

No, I’m not going to do that.

Chutzpah

I will continue to be generous with my time.

But if your book is not on a topic of interest to my audience and you’re not a good friend, I’m not going to promote it.

I’m certainly not going to provide an endorsement.

And you’ve burned the positive impression that was left after our previous interaction.

Is that the kind of author you want to be?

Launching a book is a needy time. You need help from two groups of people: close friends and people who have influence on the topic of your book.

Don’t bug anybody else, even if they’ve seemed like a generous person in the past.

That’s just chutzpah. That’s not what you’re going for, is it?