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Promote as you will, but
never let it affect your ability
to write your best book.
The William Goldman axiom, Nobody knows anything, ap-
plies to promotion, too.
Which is why you should never allow yourself to ob-
sess over it.
Here is my corollary to Goldman’s Axiom: Your success
as a writer is inversely proportional to the anxiety you let yourself
feel for promotion.
Meaning, the more anxious you are about forcing
success through self-promotional effort, the less creative
energy you have for the writing itself.
Because the most important promotional tool you
have is your best book.
Period.
Not Stephen King’s best book, or Nora Roberts’s.
Yours. Heart, soul, skill, craft, passion, work, blood, tears,
toil, and sweat. And even then, there’s no guarantee. But at
least you won’t have diluted your strengths by obsessing
over promotion.
Does that mean doing nothing? Sometimes. I know
best-selling authors who do zip on self-promotion.
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Here’s a simple guideline: Do what you can without
a) taking away from the quality of your writing time;
b) taking away from the quality of personal relation-
ships; and c) taking on debt.
So what are the ten best forms of self-promotion?
1. Your book.
2. Your book.
3. Your book.
4. Your web presence.
5. Reviews.
6. Publicity. Getting media attention is hard for
the novelist, because the infotainment world is
made up of nonfi ction hooks. But if you can tie
your novel to some issue of current interest, you
have a chance of landing some interviews.
7. Face time. Bookstore signings, speaking gigs
(start locally and work outward), and the like.
Don’t expect long lines. You’re making readers
“one at a time” as you can, and that takes time.
But they’re going to be quality readers if you
have hit them with steps 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10.
8. Your book.
9. Your book.
10. Your book.
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social networking media
A word about blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and whatever oth-
er social networking has come about since I wrote this:
Yes, do what you can, but always with ROE (Return
on Energy) in mind. Some people believe there is a cumu-
lative effect to these efforts. Maybe sometimes, and only
if you give them massive amounts of time and quality.
And even then, there is no guarantee of a large return.
Not if your books don’t deliver the goods.
And if your books do deliver the goods, word of
mouth will do more than all your self-promotion efforts
combined. Knowing that, you are free to invest as much
time as you like in these things. Just remember, people
aren’t into reading glorifi ed ads. You have to offer them
something of value in everything you put out there. Such
as useful information, entertainment, or provocation.
Do that, and you’ve earned the right to tell people all
about yourself and your books from time to time.
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted;
the trouble is, I don’t know which half.
—John Wanamaker,
department store magnate
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