On the challenges of self-promotion...

[Susan in VA]

You're so lucky you can read German...I've been working on learning it for years!

Well, I started with that.  I had to work on learning English for years!   

[Susan in VA]

OK, could someone please explain to me what happened in this thread?  I remember the original post, and I think the questions it raised were answered fairly quickly and to general satisfaction.  And then people started "self-promoting", sometimes in an intentionally funny and over-the-top way, and it fit in with the OT so that was fine too....  and then it got onto a couple of minor sidetracks, but it did keep returning to "SSP"...  I'm not at all sure what happened to make the OP delete the first post, nor why others deleted theirs half a day later.

Did someone take offense?  If so, and if I contributed to that, I apologize; I wasn't aware of saying anything hurtful to anyone and certainly did not intend to do so.  Or did I/we break a forum rule, other than being off-topic a few times?  I'm totally baffled as to what's going on here. 

[Harvey]

^ No big mystery - the writer of the original post decided to pull the discussion back, and deleted the text in his original post. The conversation can continue.

[Betsy the Quilter]

Folks,

Let's respect the OP's wishes and move on.  I think there's some interesting stuff in this thread for authors, prospective authors and those of us who also need to self promote.  (Art quilt, anyone?   )  I particularly took to heart Wendy's comments about offering to do book signings.  Not that I have a book, but I have patterns and classes to offer.  I need to start making more cold calls (which I hate).

Betsy

[Edward C. Patterson]

The myth of self-promotion is that you go it alone. You do initially and the nervous or frail will not do it well - be clobbered by the first sniper who shoots them down. The fact is, self-promotion is the art of getting the heart and mind of readers who will then take up the promotion for you, and it is their pleasure. They do this through reviews, reading your other books, but more importantly, through BUZZ. You work for the reader, not yourself. I had a reader email me to expect some new sales on The Jade Owl and , guess what, I had 5 new readers (and for the $15.45 paperback) the next day. So self-promotion begins with the writing itself. It needs to engage the reader and be the good stuff. You're not going to please every reader, but 99% is a good goal. The hard part is getting the 1st reader. My first published book sold 2 copies in the first month and then had some editing problems. I needed to make some hefty corrections to get that number to 7 for the second month. Since the publication of No Irish Need Apply, the buzz kicked in, and since Surviving an American Gulag, the buzz really kicked in. On the first day of The Jade Owl I sold 16 copies (and they were to MY readers). So, yes we need to do book readings, signing, interviews and lots of blogging. We need to do a hundred little things to keep the titles and our names before the reading public. We can't rest on the parade float of our readers, BUT as an Indie Publisher the quality of your work and the buzz from the readers makes the phrase "self-promotion" a misnomer. Is it hard? YES. But anything worthwhile requires work.

Edward C. Patterson

[Meredith Sinclair]

The myth of self-promotion is that you go it alone. You do initially and the nervous or frail will not do it well - be clobbered by the first sniper who shoots them down. The fact is, self-promotion is the art of getting the heart and mind of readers who will then take up the promotion for you, and it is their pleasure. They do this through reviews, reading your other books, but more importantly, through BUZZ. You work for the reader, not yourself. I had a reader email me to expect some new sales on The Jade Owl and , guess what, I had 5 new readers (and for the $15.45 paperback) the next day. So self-promotion begins with the writing itself. It needs to engage the reader and be the good stuff. You're not going to please every reader, but 99% is a good goal. The hard part is getting the 1st reader. My first published book sold 2 copies in the first month and then had some editing problems. I needed to make some hefty corrections to get that number to 7 for the second month. Since the publication of No Irish Need Apply, the buzz kicked in, and since Surviving an American Gulag, the buzz really kicked in. On the first day of The Jade Owl I sold 16 copies (and they were to MY readers). So, yes we need to do book readings, signing, interviews and lots of blogging. We need to do a hundred little things to keep the titles and our names before the reading public. We can't rest on the parade float of our readers, BUT as an Indie Publisher the quality of your work and the buzz from the readers makes the phrase "self-promotion" a misnomer. Is it hard? YES. But anything worthwhile requires work.

Edward C. Patterson

I bet writing and editing the book wasn't easy either right Ed, but the rewards do seem so much better if you worked hard to achieve them right? You definitely are good Ed, I am totally impressed. 

[Edward C. Patterson]

Merry:

Well, with the original first book I learned a basic truth. Indie publishing eliminates people, not tasks. An author must assume all the roles, even the crucial obstacle role of validating whether the book is worthy of publication. We complain when we get our rejections. Most of the time it has nothing to do with the writing and all to do with the marketing, business issues that is. Cost vs return. However, sometimes it has to do with quality. It is extremely difficult for an author to determine whether the work is worthy of publication. Sometimes it's a leap of faith, awaiting the first review. But eventhough an author can use beta-readers, the ultimate determination (that ultimate role) needs to be assumed, not set aside, by the author. If the work is not ready for a reader's enjoyment, it should not be published. That's hard. The other reality is that "editing" needs to be done by someone else. Editing is a dual job and only the gifted schizophrenic author can undertake it alone. I am fortunate. I acquired an editor who works for free, because she believes in my talent. She was a reader of my unpublished manuscripts, and a BIG BIG BIG critic. She undertook without my consent the job of the blue-pencil and we fought like cats and dogs, only because authors tend to be egoistic about their writing. We often feel that each word has been given to us from some golden Olympian fountain. But it ain't so (to use a word left over from Leslie's repertoire  ). I have also been fortunate to be beat up, unmercifully, by dozens of professional writers, editors, agents and publishers, who told me that I had the gift, but I had to LISTEN. When I stared to LISTEN and apply their suggestions, I was ready for prime time. My editor also appreciates the fact that I give her the pages after I have edited and proofed at least twice, and that I proof again after she's finished. In fact, most things that escape into print (or eInk) that are editing problems were inset while I was doing yet a final edit. Like computer programmers (especially the ones at Amazon), when you fix one thing, you break two things.

Anyhow, Merry I thank you for the compliment. I never stop LISTENing and learning. My style is set but evolving and the marketing end, which all Indie authors must assume is not unlike the kind of activities that non-Indie authors need to adopt. My friend Gregory Banks once said that every author should Indie publish at least one book so they can learn what it is to be involved in the full process. They will also be more successful with their Traditional Publisher, because they are doing less and less for all authors . . . and sorry to say (and this is my addendum to that), less and less for readers.

Edward C. Patterson
"Soap box away, now."

[GuinS]

An author must assume all the roles, even the crucial obstacle role of validating whether the book is worthy of publication. We complain when we get our rejections. Most of the time it has nothing to do with the writing and all to do with the marketing, business issues that is. Cost vs return. However, sometimes it has to do with quality. It is extremely difficult for an author to determine whether the work is worthy of publication.

Amen to that! With traditional publishing you know whether or not the book is worthwhile, because the publisher's not going to sign a contract and go through the entire process unless they believe in the manuscript (or, at least the proposal).  Whether or not they follow through with schedule, marketing, etc., is another thing altogether.

Fiction, for me, was difficult.  Never done it before.  Don't know if I have the required imagination.  On the other hand, history is easy because the story is right there waiting to be told.  It only needs to be told well.

[Meredith Sinclair]

Merry:
Anyhow, Merry I thank you for the compliment. I never stop LISTENing and learning. My style is set but evolving and the marketing end, which all Indie authors must assume is not unlike the kind of activities that non-Indie authors need to adopt. My friend Gregory Banks once said that every author should Indie publish at least one book so they can learn what it is to be involved in the full process. They will also be more successful with their Traditional Publisher, because they are doing less and less for all authors . . . and sorry to say (and this is my addendum to that), less and less for readers.
Edward C. Patterson
"Soap box away, now."

  You deserve it, Ed!