Being a writer fits my introverted personality. Author promotion does not. I write best when I’m alone, in a quiet place, because being in a place devoid of distraction allows those characters in my head to run amok. Promoting a book after the fact, however, hits my personality head-on, like a smack to the head. Sometimes I need a good smack to the head, but that’s another thing entirely. Author promotion goes hand in hand with book promotion. It must be done.
Without readers, a book is just an idea. A concept. Readers give a book life. Readers read with their imaginations as well as with their eyes. They interpret the characters and the plot in their own unique way, drawing upon their own life experiences. As a writer, I have no way of knowing how those readers (you) will react. But the bottom line is, without promotion (book and author promotion), you won’t read what I’ve written, and if you don’t read it, those characters I’ve created will never have the life they deserve.
So how does an introverted writer promote that new novel? By stepping outside the comfort zone and taking the risk. Public speaking (libraries, bookstores, social clubs, even one-on-one chats with people who ask what the book is about) can be nerve-racking. For me, it almost always is, but I appreciate every opportunity to get the word out because I need readers. Writing is about creating and sharing. Creating is only half the process.
A couple of weeks ago I was invited by my friend (poet, author, public speaker, PR mastermind) Patricia Neely-Dorsey, to take part in a new television show she is doing on Hill Country Network. My immediate answer was a resounding YES. My immediate feeling was this great big twist of nerves in my gut. What if I freeze? Suppose I sound like an idiot? What if everyone who watches can see how incredibly nervous I’m certain to be?
It’s How We Grow
Stepping outside one’s comfort zone, under whatever circumstances that may be, is what allows us to grow. Facing fear is essential to becoming something more than what we are now. It’s trusting yourself to give it your best and come out the other side better for the experience, or at least still alive and capable of brushing yourself off to try again.
Asking someone to read your novel can be a very frightening thing, but isn’t that the case with anything we throw our heart and soul into?
To make it more frustrating, for me, is that I see so many other writers and artists who make public speaking seem so easy. Some of those authors will be interviewed in upcoming episodes, and believe me, you will be entertained. As a side note, I must admit that Patricia made me feel more comfortable during this interview than I thought possible. By the end, I had actually forgotten we were being filmed. Regardless of how I did personally, I enjoyed the experience very much. Thank you, Patricia.
I also want to thank my wife Sharon — my rock — for always being there for me. For standing beside me, sometimes literally pushing me toward whatever public event I’m facing, whispering in my ear, you’ve got this.
There has not been a single event that Sharon and Logan (our youngest son) have not been to. They even got to meet John Grisham at the first Mississippi Book Festival.
More Common Than You Think
This weekend I watched a show about Sonny and Cher and learned that Cher was so terrified of going onstage that sometimes she fainted. At least I haven’t fainted yet, so there’s that.
See how I ramble? No worries though. Kendall, I’m told, is a really good editor, and we did the interview in one take.
So please join me as I step outside my comfort zone in (for me) a really big way, because once a thing like this hits the internet, there’s no taking it back. I may have to grow a beard and start wearing a ball cap, but I’ll keep writing. I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to.
PATRICIA’S NEW TALK SHOW “Meet My Mississippi Authors and Artists” will air
Fridays at 9am and 5pm.
beginning May 10, 2019
Watch it on Ch99 MaxxSouth (New Albany, Mississippi) OR on Live Stream www.hillcountrynetwork.net
You might also like these Facebook pages:
Hill Country TV
Meet My Mississippi
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