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17. Don't make promises you can't keep

17. Don't make promises you can't keep

Don't you just hate seeing people advertising their stories on other people's stories? Those authors worked really hard to get their stories to where they are and there are people who are just taking advantage of other people's success. It's extremely rude and nobody's going want to read your story after you do something like that. I'm sure that when the author checked their newsfeed they were hoping for some nice feedback on their work, and not

"Hey, I'm your biggest fan! You should check my story out too. I promise you'll love it!!! <3"

A) You can't exactly be someone's biggest fan if you've never read their works. And that statement makes me think you've never read the works.

B) You can't promise me anything. How do you know I'll love it? And what if I don't? Then what? Why would you make promises you can't keep? Promises aren't things to be taken lightly!

C) Adding a <3 doesn't change anything.

It's completely fine to ask people to check out your stories--you worked hard on them and you'd obviously appreciate feedback. But you have to do it respectfully and that means not going to every random person you can find and promising that they'll love it. Then, people will actually want to try it and think, "Why not give it a shot?" And if your story is good and appeals to them, they're naturally going to continue supporting you.

(Because I'm feeling generous, here's a tip: actually read other people's works, vote, leave feedback, and THEN ask nicely, and your chances of gaining new readers will skyrocket. That doesn't make it a read-4-read. It just makes people grateful and willing to return the support.)