Tag Archive | introvert

Author Confessions: Why Authors Hate Marketing

Jul29
Reading Time: 4 minutes

 Author Confessions: Why Authors Hate Marketing

Maybe it’s an exaggeration to say authors hate marketing. We’re expected to do it. I’m sitting here writing in a blog as part of a larger marketing plan. Gone are the days where an author can squirrel themselves away in a lovely little cabin and pump out book after book. Maybe a book signing here and there to meet their adoring public. Back in the olden days (before I ever started writing for publication), publishing houses did all that work.

The advent of the internet and those who are self-publishing has created a lot more content and choices for readers. Some publishing houses are struggling to stay afloat in a highly competative industry and authors are making less money as a result. It’s only a tiny percentage of published authors who write more than one book  who rise to the top as far as popularity and book sales. Those with big names don’t need to be all over social media to get readers to purchase their next best-seller. If you are already famous and write a book, they might do a few interviews on national television and then that’s it, voila, best-seller.

Now this isn’t about book sales, per se. But the reality is we live in a noisy world. I admit to getting sucked into social media, reels, videos, and posts. Sometimes I think life was better before I ever joined Facebook, and I’m not on there as much as you might think. I hired a virtual assistant for a time to help with some of that and I learned a lot. The goal was not to need him anymore. I still have one helping me for the moment with this blog, but she doesn’t write the posts. She does all the back door stuff and offers a ton of encouragemet (I love you, Bonnie!)

TIME

I don’t hate marketing. What I dislike is the time it takes away from writing. Part of this is as I’ve learned new things I’m dipping into my back catalogue of content to put together my media content. That takes a lot of time as I’m skimming books to get quotes, or looking on line for reviews to use to help people perhaps take interest in a particular title. And I can’t be all about sales either. Who wants that? So I search for cute images with quotes about reading, books, faith, or sometimes something silly to post to encourage my audience. Eventually I won’t have to do all that again, except for new titles, so getting it organized right now is the big investment. If I were to line up interviews or books signings that takes even more time (and money). Thankfully, if I plan well, I can post all of that in advance. Still, it takes time and planning.

INTROVERTS

The majority of authors are introverts. We are not necessarily out for attention. I’m supposed to do videos to promote my books and I’ve done a few, but I hate doing them! They are short, sure, but they take more time than you think and I can be pretty critical of my performance. I can do live videos and be fine with them if they are less scripted but it still is not a comfortable thing to do. I don’t want this to be about me–but about the stories. I write fiction so I have to try to show you, the reader, the value there is in reading my made up tale. That takes time and creativity to put together in something that’s only 30 seconds to a minute long with a moving background. As you can guess, I’m not on TikTok. My life is mostly private. Sure I share some stuff on Facebook, and maybe if I think of it, on Instagram, but that’s about it. I want to live a life away from a computer screen as much as possible.

MONEY

I have paid marketing experts to help me but in reality it wasn’t just paying someone to do the job, it was paying them to teach me how to do it. It’s not cheap and doing the job myself I can see why. It takes time and that is a valuable asset. So is money. My husband spent his life in marketing and sales but it was for a physical product and he would do the sales at a home with an appointment. It’s as different thing to sell content like a book. So I invest money (and time) and it might be years before I see a real return on my investment. It’s a step of faith to do that and many authors do pay others for the help, but even with that assistance they often have to pitch in by providing content to the assistant. Those assistants work hard. Book signings can come with a cost as well for the spot at a craft fair, and maybe goodies for those who come whether it be snacks or give-aways.

The reason why authors hate marketing is because it’s outside of our wheelhouse and takes away from our primary craft of writing. I don’t mind doing images and posting or playing around to creat my own unique images, but it takes time. My publisher does some stuff to help market books but the primary weight of this for most authors, falls on their shoulders. And if you want to be published, you need to have that audience already established, even without having a book to sell. Crazy, right? Unfortunately, that’s the reality most authors face as they try to get a book ready for publication.

Author Confession: Listen more than You Speak

Jul22
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Author Confession: Listen more than You Speak

This is a difficult thing for many of us to do, me included. My husband and I were at an anniversary event and many there were deaf and using sign language to communicate. My husband is pretty good at signing his conversations, but admitted to one hearing interpreter that he can speak sign better than read it. I quipped that he has a hard time with that when it comes to talking and listening as well. Me? Well, I could only watch unless someone translated any of it for me.

My husband was surprised but the woman responded: “Preach it.” My husband is quite a talker. Maybe it’s the yougest son, clown aspect of his extraverted personality. He processes everything out loud. It’s the way he solves problems, by talking them out. I never have to wonder what he’s thinking! He is getting better at listening as well.

Most psychology theorists would say that personality is fairly stable, but I used to to be much more like my sweet hubby. I would talk a lot. I could relate anything you said into a story of my own. Perhaps not the best social practice, however, but I think I had a desperate need to be heard and understood. Years of verbal/emotional and other abuses, however, tempered that part of my personality. I became an author and more introverted. My training in Counseling Psychology also trained me how to listen, and ask questions to help others.

There is an axiom out there: God gave us two ears to listen and one mouth to speak so use your ears more than your mouth.

This could also be applied to our converstations with God. We often want to fill up that time with our thoughts, wishes, prayer requests, praises but how often are we good at just sitting and listening to Him? It’s harder in many ways than to do that with another person. I struggle to do this. My brain is pretty easily distracted.

I think there is a depth of comfort that must exist between two people, of trust and love, when the spaces between words can be long. Where silence hangs there not in a threatening way, but in comfort and peace. When my husband and I take long car rides we don’t often listen to music. Some of that is because it intereferes with attending to conversation, but also we have some distinctively different preferences in musical styles, with mine being far broader. It is not uncommon for us to sit for miles and miles in silence. I’ve managed to do writing on trips like this and he’s managed (when I’m driving) to make out notes and phone calls for projects he’s working on. Sometimes when I’m writing on my laptop, he will be driving and silently praying as he is a faithful intercessor for many.

Maybe being an author has made the listening a little easier. Don’t get me wrong. In the right situation and some of my favorite topics I can become a chatty Cathy. Given that I prefer more in-depth conversations with those in my inner circle, it can be more challenging for me to step out of my comfort zone to talk to people I don’t know in a more superficial setting. I almost have to psych myself into that, but when I do I try to find a way in to the conversation and make it about the other person. I’ve heard many wonderful stories that way and have been able to encourage others. As much as my husband or I want to be seen and known, so do  most other people, and they are also waiting for someone to care enough to listen to them.

As an author, that is a gold mine of ideas and concepts and story lines. It helps me explore heartbreak and joys or challenges that I’d never understood before.

Proverbs 1:5 says: “A wise man will listen and increase his learning, and a discerning man will obtain guidance.” Listening, being fully present with someone, takes effort and work. In our rushed, social media society, that is a hard discipline to learn and practice. Maybe getting older, and a little trauma, has made that easier for me, but to be honest, sometimes I’m too self-centered or lazy to make that effort with someone I’m not well acquainted with. Any time I make that effort, I’m rewarded with knowing I showed kindness to someone and I always learn something new and who knows when or where that will show up in one of my stories.

So this is a reminder to me and maybe to you as well if you struggle with this. Today, try to listen more than you speak and see what happens. You might be surprised at the treasures you’ll unearth in the process and the impact you might have on someone’s life.

Hibernation

Jan27
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Me (l), Anita Klumpers, (rt)

Me (l), Anita Klumpers, (rt)

I met with some lovely writerly friends last week and we chatted about all kinds of things. We were especially celebrating the release of Anita Klumper’s debut novel, Winter Watch and Lisa Lickel’s new book, The Last Detail. Both are fabulous reads and I’ve reviewed them here.

This is not a critique group. This is a sanity group. A networking group. A group of writers who love Christ and want to serve him with our gifts. We encourage, tease as well as share ideas and lessons learned.

Writing can be a lonely career. We sit at a computer, or with a pencil/pen and paper and let all our thoughts, dreams and plots come ooooozing out onto the page.

Sometimes it’s ugly. Sometimes it’s brilliant. It’s always solitary.

Even for pure extroverts, interaction with other human being is essential. I’m an “ambivert,” which means I’m in the middle of the extrovert/introvert scale. As much as I love people,I love the quiet alone time too. Even I need to be intentional about leaving my house to actually do more than shop for groceries and pick up my kids from school.

I have to socialize sometimes.

But writers are an unusual people. Only other writers can really understand the emotional ins and outs of doing this thing which seems so simple. If we do it really well we might even get paid.

And when we release our babies into the world we wait for people to tell us whether they love it or not. Sometimes the trolls try to negate the hard work we’ve done.

It’s winter as I write. It’s been record-breakingly cold. I struggle with depression and winter does not make that easier to cope with. So, knowing myself the way I do I make it a point to attend these writer lunches.

I don’t think it matters what you do. You can’t grow and thrive in isolation. We all need others. As a stay-at-home mom of tiny tots, that was MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), and for awhile it was a class I taught. Moms of young kids need to get out and be with other moms. Writers need to connect with other writers.

We share our struggles with others in similar situations to know we are not alone. We are not unique in the challenges we face. I follow many writers on-line who struggle with the gamut of health issues, family challenges, financial trials. Life seems to conspire against us to accomplish our goals.

When God calls us to write (or parent), and we seek to do it for His glory, then we should expect oppostion. Our enemy is not the trolls who write the nasty one star review without reading the book. Our enemy is a spiritual one who doesn’t want the messages of love and hope that we write about in our stories or poems or artwork. Beauty is born often of pain.

So if you are an author–do you meet regularly, face to face, with real people? How often?

If you are a reader, please pray for your favorite author or any friend you know who creates trying to bring honor to God with their gifts. While it may not seem important in the larger scheme of the world, it’s possible that one book, drawing or poem, might be the one that God uses to draw a soul into a relationship with Him. Our enemy will do anything to stop that. We covet your prayers. And if you read our books, write a review and let others know so they can enjoy them too.

You may never know the lives you touch when you step out instead of hibernating.

Stay warm!