Publicity Hoopla – Open Book Blog Hop #443

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

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Topic #443

Many of us are frustrated by publicity. It’s our least favorite
part of writing. But what’s your favorite part of publicity?

Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop! The authors included in this ongoing series wish to thank you for your reads. Even more so, we appreciate that you share our writings with friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Prepare to become a regular reader.

Authors, when they do pursue higher education, often don’t consider the marketing component, like publicity. In an author’s best interest, this track of study should likely take up space as a minor focus. While you don’t need to major in business, marketing, or communications to be a writer, it will only help your pursuits of gaining the public’s attention. In the end, that is the point of writing it all down and turning it into a book.

Did you know that marketing starts with your agent, management, or publisher pitches? When you write those query letters, you’ll be selling you and your work to representation. You need their buy in to get beyond the locked gates of the publishing houses. There is an expected order to follow. Just writing a great book and having your copy in perfect order won’t be enough.

However you pitch your work to media managing entities will play into how you pitch the finished product to the public. Before you ever get finished, you should have a sense of who will love your book and why. You’ll have a logline and a blurb to use. These items will come up continuously while publicizing (marketing) your work.

The fact that this is hard work should be no secret. Finding the right words, and being a minimalist about it, isn’t as easy as it sounds. In fact, I think any writer who is great at this could make a killing offering their services to other writers for writing their loglines and blurbs. They wouldn’t even have to charge all that much. A free copy to review and a few hundred per book. Obviously, no guarantees!

That is the crux of why this stuff is so hard. There are zero guarantees, regardless of how good you are at writing, writing copy, queries, blurbs, or loglines. Zero. The public is a fickle mistress. Still, there are those with an amazing gift for knowing how to determine the pulse of audiences. It’s like being fantastic at Tarot readings, but unable to read yourself. It is what it is.

Not all aspects of publicity are hard and frustrating. In my opinion, I love the interaction with people. I know that sounds weird, because people can be so exhausting for me. Between being an introvert and having PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety–you can bet that I tire big time. That said, it is energizing in the moment to have positive interactions and feedback from a crowd. Events can really lift your heart and pour back the love you’ve been giving out. It’s a lot of fun!

Sure signings and the like can be stressful, especially when you have to speak publicly. There will be great people to meet out there and sharing your work with them reinvigorates your hopes. In addition, this helps you hone your skills in the area and test out that which you’ve learned. Don’t get stagnant here. Pay attention to what is working and how that changes over time.

A second favorite aspect of publicity for me is the artsy stuff. Creating art around my work gets me super charged. This includes designing postcards, business cards, posters, and other materials used to promote the books. I adore making art and sharing this with potential readers. It’s a way for me to take something that has existed only in the confines of my brain’s movie screen and let others have a look.

The stuff that I write has often come from some pretty epic dreams. I wish I could take people on that ride, but since we cannot project those things onto a screen for them to view, or drag them into the literal dream space to show them, we settle for words and art that barely touches the reality. While that sounds like it is frustrating, it isn’t. Yes, the images may fall short, but so much can really encapsulate the visions. I’m grateful for my abilities in this area. I could always be a better artist, but what I am able to produce where I am at is pretty exciting.

So between meeting great people and sharing my art, publicity isn’t so bad. Not a fan of my personal image nor my voice, or speaking in public, but because I want to share my art with others, I will deal with it. Truthfully, it does get easier the more you do this. That said, I would never tell any writer that they must do so. Sometimes, the anxiety is too overwhelming to make it worthwhile. I’m thinking of all those times my knees were knocking (literally) behind the lecturn.

Be sure to check out the parts of publicity that the other authors like to engage in by clicking on their links below. Subscribe to my newsletter by dropping your email into the box and I’ll send you this hop each Friday to keep up with us! See you next time.

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