I foolishly thought that being a Writer and being an Author was the same thing. I have found out they are very, very different things needing almost opposite skills.
As a writer you envision your own little world and move in, totally ignoring the real world around you. You need to be happy being alone with your thoughts in order to get those thoughts on to paper. The very definition of an introvert.
As an Author you have to sell your book to everyone you meet, shamelessly self promoting yourself to strangers and friends alike. The very definition of an extrovert.
I’ve sold other peoples stuff in the past and had no problem, but when it comes to pushing my own novel I feel like I’m being pushy. I’ve read from other authors that they feel the same way.
One effective way that I know of to promote yourself without being pushy is with a business card. Nobody minds getting a business card, at worse they’ll just toss it in the nearest trash can, but if they are interested they have a way to find out more.
So I put together a cheap card and I’ll start handing them out to everyone I meet. Hopefully it will get some people interested to look at my book. If not I’ll have wasted a whole $5 and people will wonder if I’m the real life Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
I’m trying to come up with other low cost ways to promote my book, without being obnoxious. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.
