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And while I'm still dithering on the Friendship community, too!
But I really like this new idea and I'm really excited about it. If you've been reading my journal then you know I've been trying to get published, and that I've recently been considering self-publishing. But the problem with self-publishing anything is that because it's so easy, anyone can do it, and that means that unless you're able to advertise the heck out of your work then it's going to get lost in the piles and piles of works now floating around.
What I propose is an advertising community for self-published books, music, art - anything that's self made - to not only help people get their works known but to help buyers sort through the massive bulk that is self-published products.
What I have in mind is this:
You have a product, you've self-published it, you created a website or blog for it, and now you need to advertise it. You would then post to the community with an ad, one you can design to your liking as long as it includes the following - a description of the work (a synopsis in the case of books, if music maybe a description of the type of music you do, if art a description of what type of art you do, etc), a sample of the work - maybe a few paragraphs from the book, a few minutes of song, a picture or two, etc) a link to any website or blog you have about the product, and most importantly a link to where a person can purchase the product.
But won't the ad just be lost as more and more ads are posted? Yes, I've thought of this, and what I'm thinking is that after a certain amount of time has passed you can delete the old post (or not, especially since it'll be tricky to find again) and repost the ad so it doesn't get lost to eternity in the shuffle. How long people should wait, however, I haven't decided on. I'm thinking somewhere around three months so that people aren't monopolizing the com by reposting their ad daily.
As for tags, there would obviously be your tags for books, art, music, crafts, etc but sub-tags as well. Graphic novels/comics, Mangas, Jazz, greeting cards, calendars, paintings - you get the idea.
Recommendations of products are also permitted. So if you've discovered some artist or book that people just need to see, then rec away :D
The rules would be as follows:
Only ads for completed works that are on sale can be posted. If the product is not ready and not in a position where it can be purchased, then no ad.
Ads can only be for original works, not works based on existing works - for example, fanfiction or CDs of someone singing songs that aren't of their own creation. Because I'm thinking with something like this we really need to be careful about legal ramifications. For example, the comm will not be held responsible for any lack of profit.
Please keep things work safe since we have no idea how young our audience would be. If possible, post only what isn't explicit. If not possible, please keep it under an LJ cut and provide warnings - if it's not for kids, let everyone know.
And... that's all I have thus far.
So I am totally open to suggestions you all might have, most especially on the following:
- How long should it be before a person can repost their ad? I definitely don't want to make it under a month, but should it be a month, two months, three months?
- Warnings. Should we do things like they do for DVDs and movies (Warning: contains violence, nudity, sexual themes, etc), maybe do a rating system (PG, PG-13, R, NC-17). I definitely want to have something that'll prevent people from stumbling onto something that might squick them.
- people's names in the tags. Okay, I can see people being okay with this if they're using a pen name, but... well, speaking for myself I'm rather iffy about this. On the other hand, if I were creating numerous products and people were interested in finding me specifically, then having my name in the tags might help me out. Besides, my name's on the product, anyway. What do you all think?
- Comments. Should people be allowed to comment on ads (say, if they have a question) or not (to prevent people from being creeps and trashing a person's ad or product).
- Reviews. Should we allow product reviews or links to product reviews? Or would that do more harm than good, especially if all the review is doing is trashing the product. The comm is all about helping people make a sale, and I can totally see people using reviews to rip on a product or person. so maybe if we were a little on the strict side about how people reviewed? Your thoughts on the matter?
And any other suggestions, thoughts, as well as points I didn't cover that need covering, are most welcome.
Edited to Add: Oh, and what should I call this community?
But I really like this new idea and I'm really excited about it. If you've been reading my journal then you know I've been trying to get published, and that I've recently been considering self-publishing. But the problem with self-publishing anything is that because it's so easy, anyone can do it, and that means that unless you're able to advertise the heck out of your work then it's going to get lost in the piles and piles of works now floating around.
What I propose is an advertising community for self-published books, music, art - anything that's self made - to not only help people get their works known but to help buyers sort through the massive bulk that is self-published products.
What I have in mind is this:
You have a product, you've self-published it, you created a website or blog for it, and now you need to advertise it. You would then post to the community with an ad, one you can design to your liking as long as it includes the following - a description of the work (a synopsis in the case of books, if music maybe a description of the type of music you do, if art a description of what type of art you do, etc), a sample of the work - maybe a few paragraphs from the book, a few minutes of song, a picture or two, etc) a link to any website or blog you have about the product, and most importantly a link to where a person can purchase the product.
But won't the ad just be lost as more and more ads are posted? Yes, I've thought of this, and what I'm thinking is that after a certain amount of time has passed you can delete the old post (or not, especially since it'll be tricky to find again) and repost the ad so it doesn't get lost to eternity in the shuffle. How long people should wait, however, I haven't decided on. I'm thinking somewhere around three months so that people aren't monopolizing the com by reposting their ad daily.
As for tags, there would obviously be your tags for books, art, music, crafts, etc but sub-tags as well. Graphic novels/comics, Mangas, Jazz, greeting cards, calendars, paintings - you get the idea.
Recommendations of products are also permitted. So if you've discovered some artist or book that people just need to see, then rec away :D
The rules would be as follows:
Only ads for completed works that are on sale can be posted. If the product is not ready and not in a position where it can be purchased, then no ad.
Ads can only be for original works, not works based on existing works - for example, fanfiction or CDs of someone singing songs that aren't of their own creation. Because I'm thinking with something like this we really need to be careful about legal ramifications. For example, the comm will not be held responsible for any lack of profit.
Please keep things work safe since we have no idea how young our audience would be. If possible, post only what isn't explicit. If not possible, please keep it under an LJ cut and provide warnings - if it's not for kids, let everyone know.
And... that's all I have thus far.
So I am totally open to suggestions you all might have, most especially on the following:
- How long should it be before a person can repost their ad? I definitely don't want to make it under a month, but should it be a month, two months, three months?
- Warnings. Should we do things like they do for DVDs and movies (Warning: contains violence, nudity, sexual themes, etc), maybe do a rating system (PG, PG-13, R, NC-17). I definitely want to have something that'll prevent people from stumbling onto something that might squick them.
- people's names in the tags. Okay, I can see people being okay with this if they're using a pen name, but... well, speaking for myself I'm rather iffy about this. On the other hand, if I were creating numerous products and people were interested in finding me specifically, then having my name in the tags might help me out. Besides, my name's on the product, anyway. What do you all think?
- Comments. Should people be allowed to comment on ads (say, if they have a question) or not (to prevent people from being creeps and trashing a person's ad or product).
- Reviews. Should we allow product reviews or links to product reviews? Or would that do more harm than good, especially if all the review is doing is trashing the product. The comm is all about helping people make a sale, and I can totally see people using reviews to rip on a product or person. so maybe if we were a little on the strict side about how people reviewed? Your thoughts on the matter?
And any other suggestions, thoughts, as well as points I didn't cover that need covering, are most welcome.
Edited to Add: Oh, and what should I call this community?
