Promotion: Be Persistent

With all this talk of promotion - getting your book into stores, talking at schools, using social media, and being unique in the way you promote - being persistent is another tooth in your key to success if you haven’t gathered that from the first three postings. Having been in sales for a nationally known tool and hardware company in another life, that standard “don’t take ‘no’ for an answer” attitude has to come into effect… within reason.

Taking into consideration that people want you to sell yourself, getting people agitated at your line of sales pitches won’t help you advance up the ranks. You need to show your audience, whether they be teachers, readers, or even agents, that you have something to offer them that they wouldn’t find otherwise. That could be fresh ideas to connect with students, a viral campaign that reaches out to groups who may not have been tapped before, or revamping an old idea that allows that form of promotion to be fresh and inviting. Sign yourself up for everything you can handle, shake those hands - both physically and virtually - and let them know that you are available to them, and if people don’t know you now they should in the near future. If your first tactic didn’t work, a new one will come to mind and you approach again. Whether it’s on your first try, or tenth, your persistence will pay off.

Also, be sure to find your literary heroes and contact them. Not only are they more often than not willing to provide some guidance as most remember being green, but they may even provide a blurb to grace the front cover.

Failure can be a big part of promoting yourself. Perhaps you aren’t reaching the right fan base, or your video didn’t come out as good as you had hoped but ran with it anyway and the result was much less impactful than first expected. But as I said in the Community post, failure on your part isn’t weakness unless you let it cripple you. We learn best when we are open to making mistakes, applying constructive criticism where necessary, and making a better product the next go ‘round. And while ‘no’ can be a disappointing word to hear, as I’m sure some, if not most of you have heard it more than once, no never means forever (well, unless otherwise stated - doh!).

Also, don’t hesitate to ask for help! If you know someone who is good with video software, or has a mic and receiver you can hook to your computer, or possibly a tech guru, either ask them to help by producing it for you or have them teach you these new endeavors. There are reasons why people have different skills sets, to be able to help one another. I’m sure you can barter for something from you at a later date (or, heaven forbid someone does it because of kindness and available time). Or, if you don’t know anyone and have a local tech college nearby providing courses in what you are looking to learn, do it up. Not only will it be a rewarding experience in learning the new trade, but you will be saving yourself some money in the long run not having to pay other professionals to do it for you at professional prices. Granted, all of this takes time, but find your balance.


Remember, don’t give up on yourself. You’ve come way to far to stop now so look back to where you’ve been and persist on to get where you want to be.