Getting yanked from Craig's List

As I told you in a previous post, I decided to really try to market my novel Web Site. I put a great deal of work into it. First, I changed the title from Progressing Rapidly Over Uneven Terrain to Web Site. Then, I had a professional graphic artist design a new cover. After that, I uploaded a new version to lulu.com. Then I bit the bullet and reinstated my Google Adwords campaign with a $3.50 per day budget. After a week, I reduced the budget to $2.00. The next step was to start the online promotion. I had to update my all the chapter's I published on my Progressing Rapidly Over Uneven Terrain blog here at blogger. Then I started a preview on my blog at lulu Next, I changed the template of all my blogs to drive traffic to Web Site. I even started blogging at MySpace.com to try to attract that audience. The last thing I did was earlier this week, I posted a classified ad on Craig's List for Denver. Here's the ad I posted: Web Site is the debut novel from Paul Gavin. It is a crafty who-done-it with many twists and turns. Set against a pornographic web site, this work is a mature look at the realities of this type of industry. For a Mature Audience. Preview Click here for Chapter 1 See What Others Have Said About Web Site: "I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was exciting, suspenseful, fascinating, and touching. There are lots of interesting characters, and Paul really allows us to get inside their heads and experience what they are feeling to the point that I found myself even sometimes empathizing with characters at moments when their behaviors were deplorable. I recommend this book to anyone that likes fiction unless they are easily offended by graphic descriptions of sexuality." "Web Site was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The content was entertaining as well as educational and eye-opening! The author evokes several emotions from the reader throughout the novel and keeps you guessing. I now feel enlightened about the secret and lucrative underground world of internet pornography. Looking forward to reading other novels by this author." "Awesome book! I felt like I really knew the characters by the end of the book. Can't wait to see what happens next!" "Web Site sucked me in during the first few pages... I literally could not put the book down! The characters were very well developed, and I enjoyed following each of them throughout the book. I loved how the different storylines came together and the ending was not what I expected. Great job!" "Great book! I was quickly drawn into the story lines and character development. I really enjoyed how it all came together. Looking forward to this author's next book!" Due to the graphic nature of the subject matter, parental discretion is advised. For more from this author, check out Misadventures of a 42-year old writer wannabe ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Personally, I think it was an absolutely fabulous advertisement. Every day after, I published a similar ad in the Books section of Craig's Lists sites in Dallas, San Francisco, New York, Singapore and Vancouver, BC . Today I received the following email: Your posting has been removed by the craigslist community. Several craigslist readers flagged it for the following reasons: SPAM: posting appears to have been posted too frequently, OR in too many categories, OR is being regarded as commercial spam. To advertise a business or service, please post under "services offered" The flagging system is a work-in-progress, with all the pros and cons of a democracy - Please post ideas for improvement in the feedback forum: http://forums.craigslist.org/?forumID=8 After reviewing your posting and our policies, if you are convinced that those flagging your post were mistaken, please feel free to repost. Sorry for the hassle! and thanks for your understanding. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- They tell you that you ad will run for forty-five days and that you shouldn't post another similar ad anywhere on Craig's List. Well, I find this to be a very silly rule. It just doesn't make sense to me. How often do you look at other cities when you are looking for a book. Even if you have the same ad, all people see is the headline. How can that offend the other Craig's List users? Don't get me wrong, I love Craig's List. In fact, I got my current job by answering an ad from the jobs section. It's also a free site. I am really amazed that Craig Newmark has done. It really is impressive. Not only that, however, that is about the most friendly form letter I received in a while. Since I understand that I violated the terms of use, I am not irritated that I got pulled. To tell the truth, the only thing that bugs me is that I got flagged as a spammer. Me, flagged as a spammer. Me, using my real name. Me, now on that list of spammers. The sound of the word is exploding in my head - Rebeleyeball is a SPAMMER!!! Three guys from Monty Python just danced through my family room singing "spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam..." Can't believe I'm tagged - tagged for life. I am sure this is going to be on my permanent record. What is the IBCC going to say about this one? Technorati Tags: Fiction, Online Book, Chapter, rebeleyeball, Paul Gavin IceRocket Tags: Fiction, Blook, Chapter, rebeleyeball More stories from Paul Gavin. Info on novels Paul Gavin's Storefront. Copyright (c) 2006 Paul Gavin. All rights reserved.