Salesauthor?

Createspace, Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords, Draft2Digital, Nook press, and so many others. In today’s publishing world we have so many options when it comes to getting our books out to the masses. Self-publishing has just exploded over the last few years and thus become easier than ever to connect authors with hungry readers. Or has it?

“Sell yourself" they say. “Talk about your book at every opportunity.” Tweet and Facebook and keep your LinkedIn up to date. All of that doesn’t sound so hard-- until it is. How much is too much? When do our friends, family, and acquaintances stop being proud and interested and start being annoyed instead?

Here’s the thing with writing (keep in mind, this is all my opinion), it’s a solitary thing. You write alone, you edit alone (occasionally talking to your professional editor), you format alone. See a theme here? This creates a certain type of person. It’s why authors flock to each other on message boards and Facebook groups. We may not truly know each other but we get each other.

Wondering how all of this ties together? Most authors that I know don’t like to talk about their own books- except to other authors. I know this from personal experience. Self-Publishing has forced the writer to become the salesman. This isn’t in the fine print or anything- we all know what we’re getting ourselves into- but it doesn’t make it any easier.

I’ll share my personal experiences in this regard. I am not one to brag. I hate talking about myself and I hate asking for favors. I would make a terrible saleswoman-yet I am one. Some more established authors I know would say to just get over it if I want to be successful and they wouldn’t be wrong. Once again, easier said than done.

I have yet to buck up and act more like an author. Most of the time I just call myself a writer because that is all I’ve been doing and there is a difference. I can count on both hands the friends and family members who have read any of my books and I am not alone. I know many authors whose count is less than that. Why? I haven’t asked. Most writers assume that if you put the book out there- everyone you know is going to stand in line to read it. Not true. Not true at all.

There are roughly 1200 copies of my first book, Dawn of Rebellion, out there. This includes books I’ve sold and books I’ve given away. This first book came out 18 months ago, when I was a newbie writer. I’ve released two more books since then with lower numbers. I have no delusions about the reasons for these low numbers- it’s me and the fact that I still get embarrassed when someone makes a big deal out of me being a writer. Other writers will understand this. Many of them will be past this point but the fact is that it is something they’ve had to get past.

If I post too much to Facebook about my book, will my friends get sick of it?

Does anyone actually pay attention to my tweets?

If I ask a friend to read my book and give me their opinion, will they feel put out?

Get over myself, you say? Not an easy thing to do.