If Book Marketing Feels Miserable, Read This Now

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Today’s post is by Colleen M. Story, author of the new book Escape the Writer’s Web.

“I’m just bad at marketing.” Writers tell me that all the time. I’ve thought that myself more times than I can count, and honestly, I probably am. I’m not wired to be naturally good at selling. But after digging into the research and looking closely at my own patterns, I’ve realized there’s something else going on.

Book marketing feels much harder than writing.

For most of us, book marketing feels harder than writing.

When I sit down to write, even if it’s challenging, I still feel a sense of control. I know the process. I’ve built habits around it. I trust myself to get to the end, even when it’s messy, because … well, when I’m writing, it feels right.

But when I’m trying to market my work? It feels uncomfortable and difficult, and I often come away from it frustrated and discouraged.

There are a lot of reasons we struggle with this part of the process. We know how to create worlds, shape characters, and evoke feeling. But writing an Instagram caption, setting up a newsletter funnel, or figuring out how to “promote ourselves?” That’s not what we trained for.

When marketing, we’re not just creating anymore. We’re putting ourselves in front of people and asking them to care, respond, and then buy. That stirs up a lot of fears, like:

What if what I put out there looks silly or stupid?What if people see it and still don’t care—or worse, don’t like it?What if I try something and it doesn’t work—again?

We feel these emotions, but we don’t always realize how much they’re driving our choices. This is the crux of the problem: resistance to marketing isn’t only about talent or skill. It’s often about emotional risk. And the more we care about our books, the heavier that risk can feel.

So yes—some of the struggle comes from a lack of talent and/or skill. But from what I’ve seen in my own process and in working with other writers, that’s not the whole story, or even the most important part.

Because even when we learn the basics of promotion and begin to figure out our next steps, we still put it off. We tell ourselves we’ll “get to it later.”

In other words, we procrastinate.

Yep. Even those of us who pride ourselves on being productive. We do the thing we don’t usually do—we delay.

Why? That’s the hundred-million-dollar question I’ve spent the last year researching.

Why we procrastinate, and why it looks different for all of us

For the past year, I’ve been working on a new book about procrastination. A big part of that work was delving into the science, psychology, and emotional roots of why we delay the work we say matters to us. Somewhere along the way, I realized something uncomfortable: I was procrastinating, too. Not on writing—I’ve always been able to sit down and get the words in. But with marketing? That’s where I regularly stall out.

I don’t think of myself as someone who procrastinates, but once I started watching for it, I could see the more hidden and devious forms of it—studying and learning (over and over), planning, thinking, and waiting for the “perfect” timing. The research gave me the missing piece: procrastination is an emotional coping technique. However it shows up, it’s trying to keep us safe.

I don’t delay marketing because I’m not productive or disciplined. I delay because I’m looking for emotional protection.

Protection from what? That’s where writers differ.

Some of us brace against judgment or silence. Others tense up around uncertainty, the mess of choosing a plan, or the energy cost of being visible. Some carry burnout and dread, while others feel cornered by expectations and rules: same protective instinct, different pressure points.

For this and other reasons connected to the scope of my book, I mapped out 13 procrastination types that affect writers. Broadly, they cluster around four kinds of inner friction I see over and over again:

Inner Critic Conflict: fear-driven loopsIdea–Action Gap: structure and decision frictionEnergy–Momentum Disconnect: depletion and burnoutAutonomy Tension: control and rebellion dynamics

Most of us have a primary pattern or type, with one or more additional ones that may flare up under stress.

Once I mapped this out, it became clear how I can help writers outsmart procrastination wherever it shows up, on the page or in their book marketing. So let’s talk about what that might look like for you.

Spotting your procrastination pattern

If you’ve been avoiding book promotion but you’re not sure why, watch for the emotional reflex behind the delay. Procrastination wears different masks, but it always has a message.

Do you constantly tweak your sales page or social post, but never hit publish? You may be protecting yourself from judgment, rejection, or being misunderstood.Do you wait to market “when I’m more confident,” but that day never comes? You may be protecting your self-image, avoiding being seen before you feel “ready” (even if “ready” never comes).Do you put off marketing because you resent having to do it? That may be a form of rebellion—pushing back on rules you never agreed to.

These are just a few ways the 13 different types can show up. That’s why there’s no one‑size‑fits‑all fix. If you don’t know what kind of resistance you’re facing, you’ll either push in the wrong way or pull back and assume something’s wrong with you.

Name the pattern, and you can build a system that meets your emotional needs while still moving your book forward.

Final thoughts

If you’ve been telling yourself you’re bad at marketing, join the club. Most of us are far from experts at it!

But focusing only on skill can keep us stuck. The deeper issue is emotional: a protective pattern that steps in when visibility feels risky. The good news is, once you know your pattern, you can build a rhythm that’s sustainable on the page and in your outreach.

So today, try this: notice the next moment you feel the urge to delay a marketing task, then instead of pushing it away, ask yourself: “What emotion is my brain trying to protect me from?” That small moment of awareness is where real change begins.

Note from Jane: Want a quick way to find your procrastination pattern? Take Colleen’s abbreviated quiz—it only takes a minute, and it’ll point you in the right direction.