The Best Marketing Tool is Your Own Excitement
- By: Jessica Faust | Date: Nov 02 2015
Excitement is infectious, it makes people want to jump in and join. It makes people want to buy your book and get to know you better.
I don’t care what it is, a new agent, a full request, a bestseller list, a new release, a great copyedit, a fun dinner with your editor…whatever it might be, share that excitement with those around you.
I see it all too often, the author who is afraid to get excited. What if it doesn’t last? What if it’s only because there was a great price drop? What if the editor didn’t have as much fun as I did? What if someone gets annoyed and tells me so what? Stop letting others bring you down. Live in the moment and scream it from the rooftops.
Everyone always wants to know what they can do to find readers and sell more books or what they should post on social media. This is the stuff. This is real and this shouldn’t be ignored.
I’ve written before that we need to start celebrating more. The little things and the big things. I mean it. Keep that bottle of bubbly in the fridge or that special chocolate in a cupboard, but don’t leave it there for long. When good things happen we need to shout it out for all to hear. Excitement and enthusiasm are infectious. They make people wonder what they’re missing and want to know how they can get on board.
Live out loud. I promise you’ll see even greater rewards.
A great way to start is to share your excitement about books you’ve read. I do this largely through reviews on my blog. But given the opportunity, I’ll also tell people about the great books they need to read (like WATCHED by C.J. Lyons, or anything by Gary Corby, or Phillip de Poy’s next book, A PRISONER IN MALTA coming out in January…). Not only does this help you get in the habit of sharing your excitement, but you’ll also make friends of other writers (and their agents). Of course, be genuine. I don’t rave about books just to befriend agents and writers. But it’s a great way to connect with others. And who knows, if you write something they love, they might return the favor! 🙂
That’s such terrific advice, and so hard for me to do. Anytime I did something special and bragged about it, I got in trouble as a kid. We were not supposed to talk about our successes or our failures. When I go online and post a good review or tell readers I’m absolutely thrilled with the way a book turned out, I can still hear my mother in the background saying “nice girls don’t talk about themselves.” I don’t think my brothers had the same rules, but I do remind myself that my goal is not to be a nice girl, it’s to be a successful woman. LOL…almost 66 years old, and I’m still having to remind myself.
I get excited but don’t tend to share my excitement outside my close circle – I don’t like attention on myself. I think this is something I’m going to have to work on!
A lot of my published author friends do something to celebrate each book. A lot buy a Pandora charm for a bracelet, for example. I’ve been day dreaming about what I might do to celebrate each book when I eventually publish (nothing too costly) and haven’t been able to think of anything.
What do others do to celebrate a success? I’d love some ideas =)
I recently finished my first book THE PLAYLIST… and I LOVE it! So, why do I feel the need to hush the voice inside that wants to shout it to the world? It was a true labor of love, and I refuse to let others tarnish my accomplishment. I started a blog about a month ago to share my journey to publication. I refuse to be guided by fear. I need hope, optimism, joy and love, both in my life and my writing. Don’t we all? Below is a segment from my blog titled “What If?”
“What if I fail?”
“Oh, but darling, what if you fly?”
“What if…?” Those two little words have guided me most of my life. Depending on my mood, the “what ifs” could vary from: what if someone I love died to what if I die to what if there’s another world war? The what ifs could go on at nauseam. What if, what if, what if…? Those two powerful words did little but keep me living in fear.
It was no different when I began writing my book THE PLAYLIST. I wrote 50 pages before I told anyone. What if they laughed? What if my book was no good? Even when I began sharing the first few chapters, it was like a covert operation done in complete secrecy. If I failed, I wanted as few people as possible to know. The fear of failure was a powerful force.
But over time, I began telling people about this little book I was writing. When I finished, admitting I was trying to get it published was scary. What if I failed? Would I be ridiculed, laughed at, talked about behind my back? Maybe… but I needed to speak my truth. I wanted to share my journey regardless of the outcome. I knew whether or not I landed a publishing deal did not determine my success or failure.
I wanted to scream from the rooftops when an agent was interested in my manuscript, but I also had to share when she passed. I can’t wait for the day when I hear, “I’d love to represent you”, but until then, I believe the signs are showing me I’m heading in the right direction.
For the first time in my life, I am not guided by fear. This road will be filled with many rejections, but I don’t quit that easily. I love my book, but I especially love the journey I took while writing it. I can’t wait for the day when I share my book with anyone who wants to read it and talk endlessly with my friends and family about my characters and their journeys. How can that be a failure?”
If you like what you read, check out my weekly blogs at:
wwwrobinbehringerauthor.com
Robin 🙂