First of all, thank you for reading this. I know there are a
million other things competing for your attention in today’s world and it
honestly means a lot to me that you are taking the time to read my ramblings. And
now on to the fun stuff…
It’s been a little over a year since I published my first
book, “Spilled” and I’ve just published my second, “Subjective Perspectives: A
Short Story Collection”. “Why a short story collection?”, you may ask. Well,
almost immediately after publishing “Spilled”, I wrote a short story called,
“Everybody Loves Me” that got a lot of positive feedback and a few people said
I should do a short story collection next. Ok, so I don’t remember who all the
people were, but I do remember one of them was my wife and after almost 20
years of marriage if I’ve learned anything it’s to do what she tells me. So,
that’s why a short story collection. Now quit judging me.
Anyway, this is the obligatory self-promotion blog entry
that every aspiring author has to post within three days of publishing a new
book. Apparently, if you don’t blog, tweet, and Facebook message constantly
about your work then you risk having strange men show up at your house who will
grab you, cover you in barbecue sauce, and toss you in a bear den - or
something equally fun. So, if you are an aspiring author trying to promote your
work what do you blog about?
Do you talk about the creative process and the suffering and
the struggles you went through in writing your latest book? The problem I see
with taking that approach is that if you’re a new author you don’t really have
a following yet. That means there aren’t enough people who have an emotional stake
in your work to care about your suffering or creative process. I’m sure that
when Dan Brown, Stephen King, or any of the rest write in their blogs that people
are hanging on every word, because they have achieved success and therefore
there is value in what they have to say. They’re famous so they must know what
they’re talking about, right? In short, you’re not famous so nobody gives a
shit what you have to say.
Do you write about how great your latest work is and try to
persuade everyone to buy it immediately? I have issues with that also. The main
one being that I hate self-promotion and/or trying to sell anything in any way,
shape, or form. I enjoy writing and I think that I craft good stories that are
worth reading, but something inside me just screams that self-promotion is
wrong. It is prideful, boastful, and egotistical to the extreme and yet it is a
necessity, because as an aspiring anything, author, musician, painter, etc, if
you don’t promote yourself then you can be damn sure that no one else is going
to do it for you.
And so, here I am, reluctantly promoting my latest work and
yet still full of questions. Could I have done a better job? Are there things I
should have changed? Should I have kept reading and editing the thing for
another six months before publishing it? I think the answer to all of those
questions is a loud and thundering, “Uh, maybe?” It doesn’t matter now though,
because “Subjective Perspectives” is out there and people are going to read it,
or not, and they’ll think whatever they will, and I’ll keep writing. I’ve
achieved a lot in life by working hard and refusing to give up and I see no
reason to stop now. My goal continues to be to write something truly great someday,
something that touches people’s souls, moves their hearts, and opens their
minds, but if that never happens then so be it, I could have spent my time
doing a lot worse things. Now flip your internet page over to amazon.com and go
buy something I’ve written before they cover me in barbecue sauce and toss me
to some bears.
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