Publicity
I've been thinking about publicity, for the obvious reason that it's time to start publicizing The Thorn and the Blossom.
I noticed two things today. The first thing I noticed is that Salman Rushdie is on Twitter. That struck me as strange enough that I wondered if it was, you know, the real Salman Rushdie tweeting. On the other hand, who else would tweet things like this:
"Congratulations to #JulianBarnes on winning the #Booker. Long overdue, my friend. Bravo."
"I'm happy to be going to support the beautiful, terror-stricken, and now reborn #TajHotel in Bombay at its NYC book launch tonight."
"All valuable literary methods are ways of revealing, amplifying, intensifying reality, not escaping from it."
That sounds like Salman Rushdie, doesn't it? What strikes me, though, is that he's the last writer in the world who needs publicity. I mean, doesn't everyone know who he is? After the fatwa that was issued against him, after he had to go into hiding for so long, I don't think he needs an introduction, exactly. And yet he has a beautiful website. And he tweets. It's clear that he cares about publicity.
The second thing I noticed is that Metaphorest has posted a YouTube video to introduce her debut album, which is available for pre-order.
One of the best known writers in the world and a brand new singer/songwriter. They both believe in the importance of publicity.
I do too, although the truth is that I'm an introvert, and sometimes it's difficult for me to do the sort of publicity I ought to. And sometimes I'm overwhelmed with work, as I am now. So it's difficult. But I'm going to try to do my best to publicize the book. And you know, if you'd like to help me, there will be opportunities. Since I posted about it, the book trailer is up to almost 200 views, and I'm sure we can do better than that! Let's start in November, after I come back from the World Fantasy Convention. And let's see how I do, how well I can publicize the book. I'm certainly going to try. (If Salman Rushdie can do publicity, well, I can certainly do it too, right?)
By the way, if you're going to be at the World Fantasy Convention, I'll have a copy with me. So if you'd like to look at it, come find me! I'll show it off to you. It really is gorgeous.
