Josh Langston's Blog - Posts Tagged "fiction"

Most of the fiction writers I know would rather work on new material than spend their energy promoting completed projects. I've had agents; I've had publishers, and I've generated material independently, but no matter how my stories went public, they all require that I keep doing the chicken dance (imagine arm-flapping, squawking, and other anti-social behaviors) in the hope that readers will find them.

And, just so you know, the chicken dance is tiring. It might not be if I were any good it. But despite reading countless "How-To" articles on self-promotion and agonizing over a useful definition of my target market, I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't be smarter to invest in lottery tickets on the off chance that I'd win big and be able to afford to hire a public relations agency to go out and honk my horn for me.

{Blatttt!}

But then I'd worry about blasting out some poor schlub's eardrums and thereby earning his or her eternal enmity.

{Sigh}

If only I could get away with just saying something like: Hi! Would you please give one of my books a try? Resurrection Blues would be a great place to start. You'll have a good time, I promise. Lots of oddball characters, some interesting history, a respectable volume of laughs, and a plot that hasn't been done to death. What more could a reader want?

But that never seems to be enough. Wait! Maybe I can find a recorded version of a "How To" article. That way I can listen to it while I drive to the convenience store to buy my Lotto ticket/Potential PR campaign.

My Dad, who was--by any measure--a wonderful guy, used to warn me that there was no such thing as a "free puppy." As a child, I agreed with him, because who in their right mind would give away a perfectly good dog? With age (I hesitate to claim maturity) and the responsibility for buying food, paying the vet, and all the rest, I eventually figured out what he meant.

Now I feel almost as though I'm engaged in giving away free puppies. Sorta. They're actually books, which require way less care and feeding. But they do come with obligations. The reader is expected to make a stab at actually reading the work. Assuming I've done my job and have written a book worth reading, the reader should have little trouble getting through it. (I hate dull books, by the way, and that applies to reading as well as writing.)

So, what other obligation is there? Well, none, technically. Or legally. Or even, I suppose, morally. What I fervently hope, of course, is that readers will be so pleased by what they've read that they'll eagerly post glowing words of praise. Sunshine will pierce the clouds over my home; song birds will migrate to my backyard; the lawn will henceforth mow itself, etc. All perfectly rational expectations, right?

What I'm told is that none of that is likely to happen, including the reviews. But hope springs eternal, and the final date of the book giveaway looms ever closer.

Imagine painting something so good that you wanted to share it with the world. And several people came for a look. And then they left without saying anything.

Sometimes free puppies come--and go--without a leash.