I wanted to be a writer not a salesman!

As many of you will know from my last post all my life I've dreamed of being a writer. A real writer with real books available for people I don't know to actually read. Well I finally got there after a loooong journey but now it turns out that there's more.

I'd honestly never thought past that magic moment of seeing my words in print. I didn't realise that after that came all the marketing and promotion. And guess what? Turns out that I'm not very good at either. I always end up feeling slightly sleazy - 'here, wanna buy my book?'.

I know that I have to do it, especially in the modern world of Indie publishing but I just feel odd about it. A little like a used car salesman but without the credibility ;) Seriously though, how do you go about getting people to read your books without being a salesman, marketing and promotions expert?? I haven't figured that one out.

So, as is my habit sometimes when things are difficult, I have so far ignored it. I interact with people through sites like this, use Twitter, FB and have a website but I'm obviously not the marketer I should be or I'd have more sales [unless I just wrote a lousy book lol]. I know of a lot of other Indie author's who seem to be really good at promotion and I'm proud to call some of them my online friends but I'm not one of them.

Basically what I'm saying is that if you've written a book and now feel a little overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to market it - don't panic. If someone as bad at it as me can start to slowly get the hang of it then anyone can do it. True we're writers not salesmen but in today's world, realistically, we have to be both.

Cheers,
Trace