Hello! Today is going to be a ~~feelings~~ post as much a ~~facts~~ post and we’re going to start with the fact that most people find self-promotion, which is both promoting your own work AND doing it yourself, UTTERLY EXCRUCIATING It is hard to talk about yourself! We are taught that to do is bragging. It calls attention to us and, let’s be honest, it is hard to be perceived these days. It leaves you open to scrutiny, judgement, and sometime even worse, silence.
Kate, I feel this in my soul. I launched my new podcast today (yay! woo!) and every time I scheduled a tweet or Instagram post for today I wondered, "Is this the one where I go too far?" I kept having to remind myself that I'm not manipulating people or something! I haven't watched LulaRich yet, but now that you've mentioned it, I'm going to start telling myself, "It's not like you're scamming people with leggings!"
I never comment but I read everything you post. Thank you so much for your work!
Thanks so much for acknowledging grifter paranoia. Ever since LuLaRich I've felt awkward. Such a relief when I got a client for a school visit out of the blue today. Phew!
I'm a month into the launch of my debut novel and it has been...a lot. This message today was so helpful and validating in just the sheer range of emotion. I've struggled a lot with feeling that my book has only reached people I know and that all my work on social media has failed to do anything but consume my creativity and my time. I enjoy it, but I also want to see strangers talking about my book (even the bad actors at this point!) and its been so draining to feel that silence. Thank you.
I will confess Twitter baffles me. I do it, but it's definitely not my medium. I've recently taken to Instagram, though, and am appreciating it more than I thought I would. Both the visual aspects and the video aspects, which are a nice complement to my writing in certain respects.
Kate, I feel this in my soul. I launched my new podcast today (yay! woo!) and every time I scheduled a tweet or Instagram post for today I wondered, "Is this the one where I go too far?" I kept having to remind myself that I'm not manipulating people or something! I haven't watched LulaRich yet, but now that you've mentioned it, I'm going to start telling myself, "It's not like you're scamming people with leggings!"
I never comment but I read everything you post. Thank you so much for your work!
Thanks so much for acknowledging grifter paranoia. Ever since LuLaRich I've felt awkward. Such a relief when I got a client for a school visit out of the blue today. Phew!
Thank you, this is very helpful. I do find self promotion extremely hard. But I know that it is necessary.
I'm a month into the launch of my debut novel and it has been...a lot. This message today was so helpful and validating in just the sheer range of emotion. I've struggled a lot with feeling that my book has only reached people I know and that all my work on social media has failed to do anything but consume my creativity and my time. I enjoy it, but I also want to see strangers talking about my book (even the bad actors at this point!) and its been so draining to feel that silence. Thank you.
Art is a connection between artist and audience. Marketing and promotion makes that connection.
I interviewed Mark Paul, who self-published and sold more than 40,000 copies. All through self-promotion.
Two things he mentioned:
-Two-thirds of sales on Amazon were print
-Creating a book trailer was the best marketing.
Full interview here: https://benbo.substack.com/p/34-self-publishing-marketing-and
I will confess Twitter baffles me. I do it, but it's definitely not my medium. I've recently taken to Instagram, though, and am appreciating it more than I thought I would. Both the visual aspects and the video aspects, which are a nice complement to my writing in certain respects.