MARKETING OVERLOAD?
Things are bit crazy this week as I’m gearing up for Monday’s release of The Billionaire’s Matchmaker by Entangled Publishing. I was barely finished with my latest manuscript when I started writing blogs, sending out review copies and issuing press releases.
Can I tell you that I really hate promotion? Ironic, seeing as how I worked in public relations for two decades, but I seriously loathe all the marketing that needs to get done when a book comes out. I miss the good old days when I could simply focus on storytelling.
I blame the Internet for this. Along with the explosion of independent publishing. Now that there are so many good authors and good books out there fighting for attention, a writer can’t simply sit back and write. He or she has to sell themselves. Which is fine – you want to be read, you need to tell people you exist. But sometimes it feels like the promotion side outweighs the writing side. I hate feeling that if I don’t push, push, push, my book won’t succeed.
Re-reading that paragraph, I realize it sounds really hypocritical. Or maybe a better word is snobby. As if I am above promotion. Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not. What I am against is feeling like I have no choice. I’m even more against that panicky feeling I get when I see other authors embracing marketing so effortlessly. And so because I believe in my books – believe they are good stories that deserve to be read – I will push same as every author in the world.
Of course, all this rambling does lead to a question: at what point do readers get fed up with the marketing? I’d love to know. Trust me, I really want to know.