Writing is Fun – Marketing is something else
Writing is fun. I am constantly entertained by my own imagination. It’s almost as good as a room full of rambunctious kittens and they are better than any TV program ever invented, IMO.
I started Selarial’s Song a long time ago – a very long time ago. On legal pads with a pen – then eventually something called a smart typewriter. I remember thinking – if only I could teach it names. Yes, in ancient times before computers were common. The time came when a close friend happened to notice what I was doing. (Actually, that’s a lie, I grabbed the first few pages and rushed to her house to show her, just like every other newbie.) Pitiful as that early effort was, Anne became my cheering section. If It hadn’t been for that, I would have quit. She believed in what I was doing so much, she had her husband bring his computer to my house for a year. A nearly state-of-the-art Tandy that you had to, not only load the data you were working with, you first had to load the program. Talk about support! How could you possibly quit with that to remember? Okay, maybe I can write.
The journey has been long and I don’t recommend writing in a vacuum, other than a lone cheering section. Then along came the internet. It had people – who’d even get together to discuss writing! I was astonished. Why, I could find someone to discuss anything from diplomacy to weapons engineering! And we did. That even made for some diverting side paths. The variety of associates I developed back then (some of them are still with me) spent more time editing each others books than they did their own sometimes. We argued. We Laughed. We learned. We wrote – a lot. We talked about publishing, agents, sent out some queries. Okay, maybe I can write, but I’ll never be published. I’m not even sure I really want to be, but the writing is fun.
One thing held me back for a long time. Marketing. I am a fairly solitary person with a group of close friends rather than a lot of casual ones. I wasn’t real happy with the prospect of trying to go the traditional route, even after I had edited and rewritten to where I (and all those others) felt the book was ready to go out on its own. Self publishing didn’t look attractive at first either. I stalled. I stalled some more. I finally looked myself in the eye. I, who fear little, was scared of the marketing. Of actually having to get out and do what was necessary to promote the book(s) and *gulp* myself. With more encouragement (can we say kick in the pants?), this time from my eldest son, I agreed to venture into this new world. Okay, I can do this, but I won’t like it.
Whoa, it really is a new world here. I have so much to learn, that alone is intimidating. I am learning an whole new language. In addition to language studies with my youngest son and inventing them for my writing, which I really thought were quite enough, now I had to learn how to properly use words like platform, tweet and blog. (I’m sorry, but that sounds like something you feel when you wake up with a headache.) I have discovered in the short time I’ve been working on this, a new group of writerly friends. Okay, maybe I can even learn to like this.
I am discovering several of the new generation of support groups out there specifically to help indie authors. These groups are GREAT! Two in particular I want to mention, out of several.
The first is World Literary Cafe, http://www.worldlitcafe.com
The loads of helpful tools and connections you’ll find there too numerous to mention, just go take a look.
The second is Indie Author Anonymous, http://indieauthoranonymous.com
This site has great reviews, a clean look and offers some wonderful promotion tools for writers. Selarial’s Song will be there soon, I hope.
Okay, I’m sold. I can do this too. I might even have some fun along the way.
