I guess it’s time to get going on marketing my novels. Ugh. What is it about marketing that’s so painful?? But I’ve spent over a decade publishing books, so I guess it’s time, lol. I thought maybe it would be enough to just keep writing. But the desire is growing in me, ever stronger, for my books to connect with the people who would benefit from or enjoy them.
But most marketing has always had a sleazy aspect (probably because they’re trying to get you to buy something you don’t really need so THEY can make money off it, rather than simply letting you know something YOU might like exists), especially these days with hustle culture in full swing, and like … that’s not me. I can’t be that. I can’t compete with those loud voices and those people who are so damn slick at marketing. You see these YouTube videos with people talking about how to grow your channel really fast using certain proven techniques, and … clearly they work.
But where’s the … humanity in that? There’s nothing more human than writing a book. Books are special. Most entertainment — music, motion picture, even fine art — can be experienced passively, but books require the reader to actively engage. To read a book, you have to seek it out, turn pages, engage your brain.
It’s such a private experience, too. You can go to a concert or a movie or an art museum and experience that kind of art with other people, but books are almost always just between the writer and the reader. Reading a book is like stepping into another world, or into someone else’s life. So to interrupt or cheapen that deep, private, emotional experience with, “And if you buy now, get an extra 5% off!” is so gross.
But on the other hand, books that sit there unread are doing no one any good. It’s all about striking a balance. I could never be the loudest voice or the slickest marketer. But I can sit here in my own little corner and say my piece. There are pretty much daily hits on my author page on fb that my friend runs, so people want to know more about me, and the fb page is not helpful to that end, lol, because I don’t actually post there; she does! So I’ll blog. That’s so much more my speed, anyway; I love blogging.
Many, many thanks to Nixie for creating this wonderful website where all we Myrtle Creek authors can come together and blog and where people can find our work.
