There's always debate about what labels you can give yourself. Many argue (and I agree with them) is that the best labels are those bestowed on you by others. Nevertheless, some people choose to promote themselves to various degrees of hyperbole.
I know it's been mentioned here before, but the "Amazon best-selling author", or its shortened form "best-selling author" is still rife. This is trading on the fact that Amazon publishes hourly lists of sales performance in every category and sub-category (and even sub-sub-category) of interest. If you can persuade your pals to buy your books at a specific time, on a specific day, you can be ranked top of a list for an hour. Take a screenshot, and Hey Presto! - best-selling author! Except you aren't. It's what we call misrepresentation, especially if you drop the "Amazon"
Which brings me to "The UK's leading..." or "Europe's most sought-after..." If someone of respected stature has called you that, fine. If you made it up, it's probably not true.
So stick to the facts, please. Self-promotion is great. Over-claiming is inauthentic and dishonest.
3 comments:
Great shout Alan! I think there is a consensus around that people are fed up with bullshit. I certainly am. Nowadays, because there are so many of these slogans around I don't take any notice of them. They've actually lost all meaning to me. Its a HUGE turn off!
Thank God for common sense. I hate self attributed titles such as expert, guru and best selling author. As Steve said it becomes more of a turn off than something of value.
Well said Alan. I've been asked to take part in the Amazon scam activites several times and was recently sent an ad for a teleseminar where the promoter described herself as author of a certain book in every paragraph. Smacks of desperation.
I would like to say that Mr Steve Trister's act as Guru John Popolini is one of the funniest ways to expose the bullshit that I've ever seen. Highly recommended!
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