Wait, what? Just... What?
"Writers: DO NOT message young women of unspecified age on BookTok inviting them to send you nude videos with your book ***for your personal review*** so that you can select the spiciest examples for use in promoting your new book. Don't do that. Just don't do that. I can't believe anyone needs to be told this. This is such a colossally bad idea. Don't do it. Also, just seriously what? Also, some of these young women may be minors. (!!) I don't even know what to say about this. Just stop. Stahp.
Commenting on this quick because I teach writers. JD Barker is not a young or emerging writer doing this, and I can't understand how he thought this was okay; but for the young writers out there: Market your books in ways that do not involve soliciting teens and twenty-somethings for nude pics. You can get creative. You can record yourself reading your story by a crackling fire. You can balance four copies of your books on your head while jumping on a trampoline. You can gift copies of your book to reviewers and bloggers and sure, TikTokers. You've got a horror novel, sure, make a trailer video where you pretend that your hand just got chopped off and fake blood is flying everywhere. You do you, knock yourself out. But, asking strangers to strip for you should not be a part of your book marketing strategy. Good Lord.
(P.S. Before anyone comments, yes, Barker issued an apology blaming his publicist, his PR firm. It's actually *his* PR firm. As in, he founded it. It's his team that he started. So, yeah.)". Stant Litore
"Writers: DO NOT message young women of unspecified age on BookTok inviting them to send you nude videos with your book ***for your personal review*** so that you can select the spiciest examples for use in promoting your new book. Don't do that. Just don't do that. I can't believe anyone needs to be told this. This is such a colossally bad idea. Don't do it. Also, just seriously what? Also, some of these young women may be minors. (!!) I don't even know what to say about this. Just stop. Stahp.
Commenting on this quick because I teach writers. JD Barker is not a young or emerging writer doing this, and I can't understand how he thought this was okay; but for the young writers out there: Market your books in ways that do not involve soliciting teens and twenty-somethings for nude pics. You can get creative. You can record yourself reading your story by a crackling fire. You can balance four copies of your books on your head while jumping on a trampoline. You can gift copies of your book to reviewers and bloggers and sure, TikTokers. You've got a horror novel, sure, make a trailer video where you pretend that your hand just got chopped off and fake blood is flying everywhere. You do you, knock yourself out. But, asking strangers to strip for you should not be a part of your book marketing strategy. Good Lord.
(P.S. Before anyone comments, yes, Barker issued an apology blaming his publicist, his PR firm. It's actually *his* PR firm. As in, he founded it. It's his team that he started. So, yeah.)". Stant Litore
