The Empowered, Self-Promoting Author

Some authors disdain it, some rejoice in it, while others have a love-hate relationship with it.

I'm taking about marketing and self-promotion -- that important set of activities that communicates your message to an audience that is receptive to it.

Maria Schneider ran a great interview with Jonathan Fields last week on her Editor Unleashed blog that touched on this. Jonathan is the author of Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love. His attitude really resonates with the approach I've taken with my own writing and marketing for many years.

Here's an excerpt:

"It's no longer enough to write a great book, hand it over, go where you're pointed and hope for the best. If that's all you're willing to do, with rare exception, you should plan on keeping your day job.

"You need to be the lead partner in the marketing of your book. And, one of the most powerful ways to do that is to build layers of digital tribes that play different, yet critical roles in the marketing equation."

In another section, he adds:

"More and more authors have been telling me how disempowered they've felt for a lot of years and many are sensing that there's a window, now, to begin to reclaim power in the publishing equation."

I agree. Only I'll add that this window of opportunity has existed for many years. I've been actively promoting my message of music marketing and artist empowerment since 1995. And I recall then feeling that I was lagging behind in getting online.

But now, nearly 15 years later, it amazes me that there are still people saying, "You know, there might be something to this Internet thing. Maybe I should get more involved with it."

YES! You should get more involved with it. There's no need to know and understand it all from the get-go, but you should be taking some small step every day to get familiar with the tools and use them to attract and nurture your "tribe" online.

Here's the bottom line: Opportunities to empower yourself are all around you at all times -- both online and off. It's your job to get on friendly terms with this marketing thing and keep your eyes open for new and creative ways to connect with readers.

Doing so isn't a burden. Quite the opposite. It's an invigorating way to share your ideas and make a difference in people's lives.

-Bob


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