Promoting Writers

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108 Comments

Comment by Gary Carden on October 22, 2009 at 8:53am

Donald, I totally agree.
I'm finding more and more that the energy needed to promote your work through bookstores is more than I can handle. However, those two guys up near Burnsville ( "Planting by the Moon" "The Sound of Thunder')make it seem effortless. I guess it is because there are two of them and they help each other. They have established a circuit, too. Bookstore owners know them and readily promote their readings. I find that what is a wonderful advantage is having an audience. I just got back from Tryon and it was unlike my usual experience in that there was a large audience already seated and waiting. I guess that was largely due to the remarkable job that the library (not the bookstore) did in promoting my appearance. I also think that there audiences out there that are better than the average bookstore. I love libraries and I also do well at organizations such as genealogy societies, elderhostels.

Comment by DONALD MAROTTA on October 22, 2009 at 7:41am

I cannot see where promoting by hopping from bookstore to bookstore by land is helpful because of the physical exhaustion. I write from the perspective of an old guy not keen on traveling, and knowing more productive means--which require an author's pinpointed ongoing work. Beans to constant chained labor in the process, however.
Don Marotta
marottadonald

Comment by Gary Carden on July 21, 2009 at 7:51am

I value the purely social aspect of sites like this. For almost three months, I posted on the folklore site with a dozen other people, and we completely "forgot" about p.r. in the excitement of sharing stories, folklore and gossip. The ones who were merely looking for an opportunity to promote themselves quickly lost interest and dropped out while the rest of us went on a marathon dialogue. It eventually ran its course, but it was delightful while it lasted.

Comment by Christine Hale on June 28, 2009 at 9:48pm

I know what you mean about the ubiquity of some people's posts. They seem to be determined to never let a day pass without calling attention to themselves. On the other hand, as you point out, Facebook has reconnected me with people I'd lost and (in some case) and am glad to find! And it spread word widely and quickly, and we writers DO seem to be in charge of "making it happen" ("it" being connecting to readers/viewers) ourselves.
So maybe the relevant question--O, readers of this post--is what, in your view, constitutes acceptable or effective self-promotion? What content, what frequency, what media/vehicle?
Interested in your thoughts....

Comment by Gary Carden on June 28, 2009 at 8:23pm

Although it has occurred to me to do that, I have been hesitant. Maybe it time, I can make an effort, but at the present time, I have been content to promote my blog. I love it and it pleases me in a childish way when people actually come and read it. Maybe that is the next step. I just discovered that it is possible to post YouTube videos on blogs this past week, which immediately suggests that I can post videos about my work. (plays and storytelling) Now I have to learn the technical process involved in making that happen. I have been connecting with people on Facebook that I had lost touch with over the years, and I intend to invite them all to my blog. I have noticed that some blogs (and Facebook posts) are unashamedly self-promoting. One extremely irritating fellow with a self-published novel has overdone it. He is on Twitter, too! I'm looking for ways to block him. I'm not very sophisticated about the internet, but there has to be a way to stop or control writers like this guy.

Comment by Christine Hale on June 28, 2009 at 7:16pm

How many of you are on Facebook? What use do you make of it (or other social networks like LinkedIn) in promoting your writing or yourself as writer?

Looking for your thoughts...

Chris

Comment by Charleen Bertolini on June 4, 2009 at 9:14am

Thanks Gary. I'm getting all these thoughts to our Chair and Program Chair. We want to keep growing and to keep improving. We know the literary world encompasses much!

Comment by Gary Carden on June 3, 2009 at 9:43pm

Let me say again, that this Book Fair did it right. I think every major variation was there and it was presented effectively. There was theater on the opening night!
The presenters covered an impressive array of "literary forms" - certainly more than I see anywhere else in the format of "cultural organizations." I think we have the basic template. All we have to do is add to, or augment it. It just occurred to me that next year, I would like to see "Southern Gothic" or Appalachian Gothic" as a workshop topic. I would also like to see some attention paid to local writers who focus on regional history and folklore.

Comment by Ben F. Eller on June 3, 2009 at 6:22pm

The top 75, 50, 25 whatever in WNC is a GREAT idea. AND should include all pieces of the literary arts . . . prose, storytelling, poetry etc.

I'm eager to hear more on how best this could be done

Ben F. Eller

Comment by Gary Carden on June 3, 2009 at 5:14pm

Sounds like "Eben Flood" by E. A. Robinson, caught on a moonlit road with a jug and two moons in the sky.

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