[stylist] Marketing Article, Angela Hoy, Writers Weekly

[Lynda Lambert]

Writing friends;
I sure understand your worries about how you will market your book or your 
work after you have completed it. We all have such feelings and they are for 
real.

Here's another  perspective to think about marketing. It was a step of 
faith, or even a leap of faith, that brought you to this point. I used to 
write a poem or essay, and then would think "Who would want to read this?"
And, when I started writing my 2nd book at the beginning of 2016, I had dark 
urges from inside of me that said, "Who in this world would want to read a 
book that you are writing?" These negative questions would literally shout 
to me to stop this nonsense.
I think we all have to face such negative inner voices in order to create 
our work. But, we have to recognize them when they come to us, and we have 
to decide to go on with our plan to write, and trust that we will have 
everything we need, at the time when it is right.
This is the key - to recognize our inner thoughts - and change them!  Don't 
let them defeat you. You DO have something to give to the world that only 
you can give. It is a gift that you have and you will have your own unique 
opportunities. Don't worry that you don’t' have a certain type of job - it 
is not the job that anyone has that will make them successful - it is their 
inner drive and belief in their own creativity that will allow them to bring 
for a gift for other in the form of your writing or a book.

Here are a few of my thoughts on marketing:

Every time a review of your book appears, that is another way of marketing.
When you get your book added to notable sites your information on the book 
is there for readers to discover.
Usually they put a photo of your book cover, and a short bio of your and a 
review of the book, along with where to purchase the book.

Another way is when your book gets reviews by another writer or editor. Most 
literary magazines have people who do reviews for that magazine. You want to 
get as many reviews as possible coming out - to get your book noticed by 
people who read and buy books.
Often the reviews come as a surprise to you, the author. It is a pleasant 
surprise. I looked at my book on amazon last week and notice that it had a 
review. I clicked on to that page, and found a review - it's exciting when 
this happens. In a different  case,  a blogger did a review on the book but 
asked me in advance for a photograph and a piece of writing (I chose a poem) 
and sent it to her. It turned out to be a beautiful review plus the extra 
pieces this blogger put with the article.

Another author who is involved in poetry and publishing, did a review that 
was a surprise to me. It is a thoughtful and poignant review and explication 
of my work.  She looked deep into my text and pulled out some gems  to bring 
to light. I am grateful for all of these folks who step out and do these 
reviews and blog recognitions.

Another important activity we can do is to constantly be putting out our 
work to editors and publications.  If you don’t' remember anything else I am 
writing in this note, please remember this:  The Editor is your FRIEND. Once 
you are putting your work out there, you will find editors who love your 
work and they want to publish it. It just happens, in time, if you are doing 
the work of putting it out to them.

I just had a rejection of 2 of my poems - the editor sent me a not to say 
they like the poems but my theme did not fit with what they need. 
Immediately, I sent  her a "thank you," for the consideration of the poems, 
and for the not to let me know their thoughts. Not only did she give me 
better insight in to the needs for her magazine, she gave me a better 
insight into my own work at the same time. This is a fresh new look at my 
poems, and it will help me in the future to know more about my own work. 
Don't be afraid of rejections - we need them!  Always, always, always 
remember to say "thank you," to the very people who are helping you see 
better. We need them.


When you find editors who "get" your work, they will promote it and honor 
you with publication  opportunities. Often, these editors will be working 
behind the scenes on your behalf.
It's not about what you do for a living, as in your example of a teacher; 
it's about what you give to others along the way. I view putting my work 
before committees and editors as offering to give them the gift  of material 
for their magazine or book.  For really, you are giving them a gift - you 
are offering your work to them and they need many writers who participate in 
the magazine by offering their work. It takes you a lot of time to put 
together submissions - I might spend a coupe or three days working on just 
one entry. I want to offer them the best I have based on what I know they 
need. We can know exactly what they want and need, by carefully reading the 
guidelines for submissions and doing the homework of actually reading 
through some issues of their publications.

Because I come from the fine arts world, I don't have hang-ups with  self 
promotion. We all know that if you don't toot your own horn, nobody else 
will toot it for you. It's not bragging, it's believing in what you have to 
say. Ask, instead, "What do I have to offer?" It's about sharing your 
thoughts with your audience. Every time I stand in an arg art gallery 
surrounded by my work, I am beaming with pride for I know I am brining 
delight, joy and inspiration to every visitor who comes to see my show. What 
can you  say about the work you are doing? Learn to say it clearly  so your 
audience understands it.

Art exhibitions consist of work by artists who constantly put out their work 
before discriminating judges and audiences. We learn early in our career 
that rejection is a vital part of our life - it propels us forward to work 
harder and develop a thick skin. Criticism not only helps us to develop 
better skills, it propels us to reach higher for goals that seem beyond our 
abilities.
I think the most important activity we can do as writers is to learn to 
speak clearly about our work. If we don't believe in it enough to discuss it 
with a positive attitude and a clear focus, how can we expect anyone else to 
do that for us?

Write on, and continue to grow.
Lynda




-----Original Message----- 
From: Tessa via stylist
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2017 6:50 AM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Cc: Tessa
Subject: Re: [stylist] Marketing Article, Angela Hoy, Writers Weekly

Interesting, I would have to say that marketing my own material is going to 
be my biggest challenge. I'm not at all good at self promotion, even if I 
get paid for it blowing my own horn is going to be painful at best LOL.
A friend self published a collection of her short stories and had a very 
successful book launch, she was a highschool teacher so has heaps of friends 
if not students, I don't know if she sold all her books or not, shall have 
to ask her but she is in the same boat I am where self promotion goes. I was 
just thinking perhaps the solution is for two people or a group to get 
together, read each others work then promote the other persons material so 
everyone gets promoted.
I guess the other thing is how much money you want to make, there's a sign 
on the highway advertizing a book, I can't remember the title now but it's 
funny because this is the fellows only method of promotion. A touch odd but 
I don't think he's too interested in selling.
Tessa



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