Be
Your Own Pimp (Literary-Stylez)
Part Two: Self-Promotion Isn't A Dirty Word
Part Two: Self-Promotion Isn't A Dirty Word
In the past, I sent off carefully crafted queries and packages to agents and publishers. I followed all the rules in the Canadian Writers' Market. But that was four years ago. In the past four years, the Internet has exploded with blogs, self-published authors, ebooks and twitter feeds. Suddenly, writers, agents, and publishers were all over the web, and it was a community I had to join. After all, my novel-in-progress was being written in a public forum, and only exists in cyberspace. I needed to venture forth and meet my virtual public!
But how?
I am not a "self-promotion" kind of person. I don't talk myself up easily; self-aggrandizement doesn't come naturally. But I knew in order to gain a following, I'd have to suck up my discomfort and learn to love talking about myself and my work.
I was already announcing my "next chapter" posts on Facebook, but I got myself a Twitter account so I could announce new posts there. I then began following authors that I admire, and other bloggers. I began asking friends to RT (it took a few days to figure out what that meant--ReTweet). I started tweeting about other things besides my blog, and I started using the # so my tweets would get noticed. A tweet of mine about the royal wedding got me an invitation to be a guest blogger on katemiddleton.com, which was a nice opportunity to self-promote as well as share my thoughts on the wedding, (which I totally stayed up for). Also, "if you follow me, I will follow you" -- even in the hustle, there is room for friendship!
I often scour the Internet, looking for unusual blogs, literary blogs, writerly blogs, comedy blogs, chick-lit review blogs ... one can get so caught up in reading blogs about writing, that one can stop writing altogether. It's craziness!
Whenever I comment on blogs, I make sure that there's a link back to mine, and whenever someone comments on my blog, I make sure to link back to theirs. Again -- politeness!
As well as offering up my blog for review, I email writers' blogs, gossip blogs, and fashion blogs to see if they'd like to mention my project. Not everyone agrees, but some blogs post my link for a few days. And sometimes, as with katemiddleton.com, people ask me to be a guest blogger (thanks, Trashionista!)
I am getting creative with this self-promotion stuff. I talked my way into being one of those "Featured Fashion People" in my local newspaper, where you pose in front of a sketchy building and the reporter asks you about your "personal style" and your "life philosophy". Under "Anything else to add?" where most people say, "I want to give a shout out to all my peeps at Starbucks!" or "Be the change you want to see", I said, "Yeah, tell everyone to follow my blog!"
I have a friend who hosts the Book Show* on our community radio station. Whenever she has me on as a guest, I bring the conversation around to my blog at least once. I have a friend who teaches in New Zealand and she used my blog as an example of "creative narrative construction" in a lesson. I am relentless in my search for self-promotion opportunities.
Perhaps my pimping-est moment was at a work-related conference. I was seated at a table with a lot of middle-aged business men. During a lull in conversation, I smiled engagingly at them and said, "Let me tell you about this awesome chick-lit blog I'm writing...."
So what am I pimping myself out for? Am I hoping that by widening my net, I'll not only attract new readers, but I'll snare myself an agent and land myself that elusive publishing deal and be able to quit my library job?
Not really. I'm doing this for the love of the work, because I believe in art for art's sake, and I believe my blog is a truly unique and enriching experience for writer and reader, both.
Sure. All of that. But a book deal wouldn't hurt.
If you still haven't checked out Jenny's blog yet, then head on over to You Were Going to be Fantastic to catch up on her choose-your-own adventure story! We'll be bringing you some more writing and promotional tips in the coming weeks, so watch this space.
