I wanted to mention that I’m over at Juniper Grove with Jaidis Shaw today. She’s got an incredible blog there and she’s been so kind and awesome to be over on the Wicked East Press Forum, as well. Plus, I believe there’s going to be some giveaways going on, so you should totally check it out!
And that leads me to a topic that a lot of people don’t think about when they first start writing and submitting: promotion. I knew it was going to have to happen, but needless to say this was a word that made me panic for a good long while at first. Guest posts, interviews, reviews, giveaways, blog hops, chats…what the what? The thing is, until I am fabulous enough to get people (oh the elusive people who do things for me!), I have to wrangle all this myself. And even if I had people, honestly I’m pretty hands-on. I like knowing what’s going on. Drat. (oh I’m kidding, I’m kidding!)
It is embarrassing for me to admit because I’m sure this makes me sound hypocritical, but there are days where I seriously believe we should all go back to living in caves. I’ve avoided networking tools for a long time out of sheer intimidation. Likewise, I had a lot of panicked questions when I first started realizing that writing isn’t just about coming up with awesome ideas and editing them.
The fact is, we’re at a day and age where even if you have an agent you owe it to yourself to take your future into your own hands. And as much as it frustrates and terrifies me, the internet makes this easier than ever. It’s not enough just to get your story released and hope for the best. Besides, you put a ton of effort into that masterpiece — why wouldn’t you go the extra steps and make sure people can see it?
So yes, I’m waving the white flag. Promotion is important and it isn’t as intimidating as I’d first expected. Even if it overwhelms me some days. Plus, it’s led me to meet awesome people like Jaidis, Kharisma Rhayne, the Tuesday Tales group, Six Sentence Sunday, Cassandre Drayne, Stephen Zimmer, and others who for some reason put up with me.
So keep writing and keep putting yourself out there!
Come Selahway With Me... 
Amen to that… a decent-selling author makes themselves into a great-selling author by taking their careers in their two hands and promoting it, squeezing every last drop out of it… or some weird analogy like that…
Armand Rosamilia
totally agree. I’m still learning the best ways to squeeze, as it were, but a writer just can’t wait around for things to happen.
Sooooo true… you have to put yourself out there and be responsible for a lot of your success. Yes, the writing matters, but in today’s world, self promotion is SO important. 😀