Promo Overkill

I am on several promotional type loops - 63 at last count. These are places where you can promote your books, but also stick around and chat, exchange ideas, all sorts of things. They like to have authors join in and talk about their books, but also stay and join in the discussions. What they don't like is someone who stops in only when they have a book coming out. And I can understand that to a point.

But as a writer, I don't have unlimited stretches of time to devote to these sites. If I spent all my time chatting on the loops, I'd never get any writing done - and that's what I am. A writer. Not a chatter. So I participate as much as I can to stay active while not being the sole provider.

Then there are those authors who go overboard. There is one author who is apparently on many of the same loops I'm on (which is not unusual). And I am so sick of seeing her promos that even if I was interested in her books (and I was at one point), I wouldn't buy them now. I'm getting at least two promos a day from each of the lists we share and that's way too many. One day, I counted five on one list alone - for the same book. And before you ask, no it was not separate blurbs or excerpts. It was the same "Look at what this reviewer said about my book" over and over again. My delete key got ample exercise.

It was kind of like the recent political commercials and the mute button on my remote. I am just so sick of this promo that I don't even open them anymore. I just hit the delete key. There's a promotion company out there that's doing the same thing. They are flooding all the lists with their client's stuff - which is may sound like a good thing if you're their client - but I know a lot of people who as soon as they see the name of this promotion company, they hit the delete key. So their methods are not working as far as I'm concerned. I know I'd never use them because of that.

So how do you find that balance between lurking and overkill? What makes a good promotion? And what turns you off so much, you hit the delete key without even thinking?