These are some very personal reflections on the conflict between writing and the promotion and marketing of my work. I say “very personal” because the guidelines that I try to follow to balance the conflict may not be applicable to other writers. I have written seven novels for young adults, all published by mainstream publishers. If I were self-publishing, the considerations expressed here would probably different. Also, six of the novels were published while I earned a living as an attorney and the last one after my retirement and in receipt of a pension. Again, if my living depended on the sale of my work, some of what I say here would change. Maybe not all that much, but a little.
I use the word “conflict” to describe the discomfort that I sometimes feel with my promotion efforts, with the marketing of my books, which inevitably, in the case of an author, involves marketing not just the book, but the person who wrote it.
The bulk of the marketing work is done by my publisher, for which I am most grateful. Still, like all writers of young adult books, there is an expectation for me to do my part. My publisher has never asked me to do anything that I am uncomfortable doing so any discomfort that I feel in promoting is all subjective and it could be that I’m making too much of it or not seeing the process in the right light. It could be that this discomfort is a generational thing that is no longer felt in the young. Evolution is doing away with it along with other human oddities — humility, for example. Still, at 65, one learns to respect what is felt and to listen for what the feelings may be trying to say.
I take marketing to include all kinds of things that happen after the manuscript is complete and accepted for publication. Everything from the font used to the title, the cover, the reviews, the pitches to booksellers. My tweets and posts in social media (even this one) – all marketing. Sometimes, marketing’s whispery voice makes itself heard before publication, during the writing process. I may come to a crossroads in the story where the plot can go this way or that. Marketing: “Maybe this way would get you a few more readers. God knows you could use them.” How can that voice not speak or be heard? Marketing is in the air we breathe. There’s a “like” button inside my brain and it hungers constantly for a few more taps. A little more attention, a little more admiration. This is how marketing affects and “conflicts” with the creative process.
Like it or not, writing involves the creation of a “brand.” I take it a “brand” consists of the values the consumer associates with a company or product. For example, when I see a Subaru I now think of LOVE. (So far, knock on wood, when I think of love I don’t think of a Subaru, but it could happen.) When a reader sees a new book by, say, Gabriel GarcÃa Marquez, a certain style of writing, certain concerns of the author, come immediately to mind. The associations may be so positive that we may buy the book not even bothering to read the description of the plot in the back of the book. A trust has been created between us and the author and we rely on it, act on it.
I would like to believe that over time those readers who read my work have come to associate good things with my name. That is my brand. I am involved in a commercial enterprise that requires some marketing on my part, some letting the customer know about the product. Because the product comes in some form or another from my essence, from who I am, my past, my experiences, my dreams and fantasies, my ultimate concerns, my purpose on earth, as I perceive it, it follows that the selling of the product includes the selling of me, my brand, who I am. Me. This flesh and blood human with flaws, hopes and despairs. Unless I write with a pen name, I don’t see a way around this. The branding of the self is unavoidable. The best I can do, if I’m so inclined, is to try to get the brand to approximate the true self, as much as that is possible. The best I can do is to try to align the perception by the consumer of who I am with who I am, truly. The conundrum happens this way: Who I am, who I truly am, includes the reason why I write, my deepest and truest motive. Suppose that the “why”, the ultimate purpose and concern of my creative act is not a desire to sell but the expression of an urge to create some kind of beauty and truth and maybe even do a little good, if at all possible. Given this, how does one promote and market and still remain true to these deep non-commercial values, the true essence of the brand, my self?
I don’t have a full answer. I struggle with the conundrum and maybe the struggle is at least the beginnings of an answer. The best I can come up in terms of practical guidelines is a kind of constant awareness for truth, a deep listening for the presence of excessive egocentricity, restraint at times. Sometimes, a careful choosing of when and what and how to talk about the book and the self. An honest search for aligning the brand with the true self. A daily reminding of the sharing inherent in the creative act, my ultimate purpose. Now this urge to create is not a solitary act but carries with it the energy to share with others and the two components, self-expression and communication are one whole, one movement of the soul, one energy. From the first crayon drawing we do in pre-school, we create for us and for others. So this is the struggle: to transform marketing from a taking to a giving. Always towards a giving. As much as this is possible.
