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,
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.