Talked with The Social Media Smith this weekend. Enlightening.
This is an investment I’ve got to consider carefully. The Smith can guide me to a better on-line presence. I have an outline of the strategy, and I think I need to take it a step further: write a check and get the list of steps that make sense for a writer with a stack of non-fiction (under one name) trying to make headway into fiction (under a pseudonym.)
It’s difficult for shy people to get up and do what needs to be done. (Thank you, Garrison Keillor.)
Smith’s point? I have already managed to record two technical presentations for Lynda.com. I did three O’Reilly webcasts. If I can do that, I can promote my fiction, too.
A fiction publisher isn’t going to do any more to promote my books than my non-fiction publisher does. I’m not (currently) interested in self-publishing because the established publishers have fat lists of contacts and experience and marketing departments that are really good. I’d like to rely on them. In effect, I’m paying them to do my marketing by taking a lower percentage than I would with lulu.com.
I’m not captivated by the idea of marketing. I have a tough enough time writing query letters: it feels to me like a letter has to imply that my books will be out there with N. K. Jemisin or Ursula K. Le Guin. Promotion is required, I get it, but it’s not as much fun as writing.