Discussing writing and/or my ongoing struggles to self-publish my series of books. Sure to be entertaining to those amused by someone else’s mistakes and problems with getting the smallest thing done.
In a recent Newsweek bit, a very enterprising fiction author is promoting his book by joining book clubs and discussing his work. He’s become so popular that book clubs are now booking him to appear and talk. I assume his sales are up too.
That’s a smart guy.
But what about non-fiction authors, particularly those with controversial subject matter or languishing sales? There’s only one way to promote such a book: think big.
I’m not a girl who has lots of celebrity stories to tell. I’ve met numerous sport stars and movie-industry people (both porn and mainstream) while working in strip clubs. I waited on Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, both of whom were nice and gave autographs for a friend of mine that was a NASCAR fan (I had zero idea of who they were until years later). I saw Luke Wilson in Baby Dolls. I saw Dennis Rodman at Cabaret Royale a number of times. Once he was walking by my table and suddenly bent over and looked into my face from about two inches away (I think he was looking for one of his regular girls and all blonde strippers look alike, you know). That was a surprising moment, to say the least. And the biggest “celebrity†I met while escorting was a high-ranking executive for an Internet company (the company is a household name but he wasn’t). Still, it wasn’t like he had a problem paying his electric bill.
None of this has moved me a bit. In June, I went to see a reading given by Jacqueline Carey. And I was star-struck.
Why would someone decide to start their own publishing company? What about all the big, established presses?
Most of the big houses require a writer to have an agent to get into the door. Okay, so one must get an agent first. Here’s where the fun and games come into play.
As many of you know, my second major was in English. While I focused on the creative writing and literature aspects, my grammatical education wasn’t completely neglected. But the little written mistakes that are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me are so elementary….in fact, these concepts were taught in public elementary school, as I recall.