Monday, December 17, 2012

How do you toot your own horn?



I have to write a marketing plan today for my publisher to submit to Barnes and Noble’s small publishing division. I know what it needs to say. I’ve thought about it for weeks and have the steps in my mind. Why am I dragging my feet?  I want to get it done before everyone in my family is on Christmas break. That means less than three days.

The problem isn’t logistics, or skills, or time. It’s my mind. I have done many a marketing plan, mainly for nonprofit organizations and gotten paid for it. Why can’t I do this one? It’s me, literally. This one is personal. I know the subject inside and out. The hopes and fears. It comes down to what my mother use to tell me: “Don’t toot your own horn. It’s not nice.”

The Marketing Plan is all about what I am going to do to sell A CASE OF VOLATILE DEEDS in the next year. Part of the plan has already been put in place but now I have to associate dates and outcomes to every step. I have to write a press release about me and the book. The book is easy to talk about, me not so much.

I’ve often thought about pairing with another author and we each promote the other. It would be easier than saying: “Hey, buy my book, I’m great.” It is much easier to say “Joan Smith has written this fantastic book because of the unique characters and new mystery plot.”

So I’m going to do an out of body experience and pretend I’m writing about someone else.  What tricks do you use to talk about yourself?

7 comments:

  1. Wendy,
    I understand exactly what you're saying. Shameless self-promotion is still awkward for me too but I've come to the conclusion that the old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease," is true. If we want to sell our books (and we do), we have to remember that.

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    1. Great advice Patricia. I'm going to start squawking right now.
      Wendy

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  2. I think writing in third person is the key. You're talking about someone else, and you hope no one else realizes it's you! Of course, if you're appearing in person, that doesn't work too well!

    Good luck,
    Monti

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    1. Monti: I laughed out loud about the last sentence. I let Mitch talk in third person. It suits him, but not sure about me. Thanks for the advice.
      Wendy

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  3. This is exactly the problem. I was brought up mid-twentieth century, when girls were taught to be shy, modest, and understated. Friends of the same age were brought up with the same moral values. Bragging was close to a sin. In school elections, the polite candidate voted for the opponent, believing (quietly) that her own vote was not needed to win.

    Decades later, a good friend and fellow teacher advised me that to vote for your opponent was to admit that you were not even worth your own vote, let alone others.

    If only there were some way to turn that lesson into a metaphor that works for self-advocacy as an author!

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    1. I was at the tail end of the baby boomers and those were my lessons. They are really hard to break but I'm trying to cultivate that aversion for rules that my father always said I had. Thanks for the insight.
      Wendy

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  4. My mother always told me "He who tooteth not his own horn, his horn remaineth untooteth." In other words if my mom says it's okay to talk about your worth, then it's okay for everybody to do it. Go for it, Wendy!!

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