I feel so insanely CRAZY right now! I have this awesome group of supportive coworkers who gladly purchased copies of my novel, Unfinished Business--not because I advertised the publishing of the book to everyone at one time, but because one person asked me for a copy (they saw a card I posted on our bulletin board), then they told one person and that person told another. In like, 10 minutes I sold 6 copies! I could've done that weeks ago, if I'd just opened my mouth!
The question of the morning was, "Why you didn't tell nobody?"
I didn't have a solid answer ready, at least not an answer that made any sense! In fact, I stumbled my words due to sheer embarrasment. At the end of the day, I can only admit the obvious. I totally suck at self-promotion.
It's not a fear of public speaking--I do that pretty well. I love listening to and being supportive to others as they, but when it comes to tooting my own horn, I fall short. And that is HUGE problem when you're a self-published author. Believe me, it's not that I don't believe in my work--because I do. It has more to do with the fact that when I began dreaming of the life I wanted as a novelist, I dreamed of creating fun and fascinating entertainment for readers, traveling the country making appearances at book signings, and the like--NOT having to rely on word of mouth (my own mouth, at that!) marketing myself. I guess I envisioned the marketing & public relations department of the major publishing house doing ALL of that part of it.
Well, that's neither here no there at this point. I've got to face the facts. I'm a self-published author. If I intend to be a successful one--even if it's to grab the attention of a major publishing house--I'm going to have to light a match under my feet and get this thing going!
I invite all of you--whoever's reading--to follow me on my pursuit of learning how to toot my own horn in the name of success! Wish me luck :)
No comments:
Post a Comment