Self-promotion is the bane of most writers’ lives. It’s unfortunately also necessary if you want people to read what you write. Self-promotion is the opposite of writing. Writing is a solitary exercise. Even when you have a writing community to turn to for feedback or advice, the majority of your writing time is spent writing alone.
Self-promotion forces you to talk about your work with others. It’s asking others to be interested in what we have to say. You have to do this always, constantly, and repeatedly.
This means you have to brave the writer’s fear that no one wants to hear what you have to say.
It’s asking a lot for you to pry the coffee mug from your grip and emerge from your most comfortable sweatpants to ask people to look at what you’ve created and maybe even spend money on it.
How you respond to feedback is more important than the feedback itself.
I promote my creative workshops, courses, books, and writing through my newsletter. It’s the most direct way to reach people. They’ve taken action to sign up for my list, so they ostensibly want to know more about me and my work. Plus e-mail is more likely to be seen and read than a post on any social media platform.
I love it when people reply to my newsletters to let me know what they like or what they’d want to see me do more often. I’m open to questions and suggestions. I also love to hear about you and your writing life.
Sometimes, though, people can be less than kind. Once, I got the following response.
Stop emailing me. It’s irritating. I’m tired of you people asking me to buy things. Is money all you care about?
Her words went straight to the heart of my biggest insecurities about sharing my work with others. I’m irritating. I shouldn’t ask people for their support. No one wants what I have to offer.
My first reaction was to give up and never send another e-mail ever again.
My second reaction was anger. What a slap in the face. I try hard to offer resources and information to my writing community. Why would she think that way about me?
My third reaction was to wonder why she had to call me irritating instead of just leaving my list.
Instead, I wrote back to let her know that no, I’m not just interested in money. In fact, I care about the writing lives of the people in my community. There’s no requirement to buy, but I offer my courses and workshops to people who want them.
I asked her if there was anything else she’d rather see, and then I told her how to leave my list if she’d like.
She never wrote back, but she also didn’t leave my list.
Why is it important to self-promote and share your work?
Feedback is necessary for writers whether you’re writing a book or building a writing community. When you’re working on a writing project, I recommend only asking people you trust for feedback.
Self-promotion leaves you open to feedback from anyone.
What’s the worst thing that can happen when you share your work?
You’ll be criticized.
You’ll be told no.
Your work will be shit on
You’ll be told you’re selfish and bothering people.
What’s worse, though, is never sharing your brilliance with the people who will benefit from your work, and silencing your own story.
When I received feedback from the women on my mailing list, I decided it was time to do a self-accounting.
Is her feedback useful?
Can I grow from her insights?
Not really. That’s why I gently asked her for more information. She chose not to send more, so there’s not much for me to learn.
When you share your work, though, you create community. You support people. You tell a story they need to hear, and you help people feel less alone.
This is the feedback I’ve received from countless others while promoting my work.
Your workshop helped me see my story is worth telling.
I’ve wanted to travel with my kids for a long time and worried it would be too difficult until I read your story about you and your daughter going to Bolivia.
You helped me shift my mindset so I realize I’m accomplishing more than I thought possible.
As an author, your words, expertise, and work have value. Of course, you should be paid for your time and expertise.
It’s unrealistic to expect creatives to continuously create for free. It’s not sustainable. Paying you for your work gives you the resources you need to continue doing the good work.
Self-promotion allows you to share your work and words with others.
Self-promotion is a muscle you have to build.
I recently added a Share Your Links section to our private forum in the Inspired Writer community. Why?
Because promoting yourself is part of being a writer.
It’s easy to feel like you should keep your mouth shut.
It’s easy to feel like you’re bragging.
And yes, the best promotion is when others share your work for you.
But no one can know what you’re doing or what you want to promote unless you tell them
I have no doubt the work I do in my community benefits writers. I’ve seen people transform their writing. I’ve seen them leave unsatisfying jobs and make a living with their words. I’ve supported people as they build businesses, write books, and build their ideal writing lives in countless other ways.
The only way you’ll ever know about what’s possible for your writing life is if I tell you.
I added the Share Your Links section so we can practice self-promotion and also so we can all know what others in the community are doing and benefit from each other’s work.
Your expertise is a gift. Don’t hide it!
Share your book.
Share your work.
Support your community by sharing their ideas not because you have to but because you believe in them, and they believe in you.
Sharing your work helps you brave rejection
If you want to pitch stories, you’ll be rejected 80% of the time if you’re lucky.
If you’re looking for copywriting clients the rejection will be double that.
If you’re looking for an agent or publisher for your book, you’ll be up against the odds of maybe a 1% chance of getting a yes.
When you promote your writing and work, a tiny percentage of the people who even see what you share will buy.
The key is to keep trying, keep putting yourself out there, and continue to pretend you don’t care when they say no. Keep going until you find your people.
You can do that with me in the Inspired Writer Community, too. I hope to see you there.
