I Hate Marketing

I cringe anytime I'm faced with posting another Instagram story or especially when uploading a reel to TikTok. (Did I mention that I don't get TikTok?) The absence of "likes" or even views feels like a personal rejection, even though I understand, intellectually, that no one knows who I am. It's still a rejection of my work, which is "me". "What don't I have?" I ask myself. "What's wrong with me?" Other people's posts and videos are so popular, but I'm the same as them. Or am I??

In a perfect world, an introverted author shouldn't have to do her own marketing. I'd jump at the chance to pay someone to do it for me, but I don't know any marketing professionals who'll accept ten dollars for their work; twenty dollars at the most. I've read so many articles about book marketing, the Google page shows every result as "read". The main takeaway from them is to be engaging and likable, and to not blatantly advertise. Well, you can't have it both ways! I wouldn't even be on social media if I didn't need to promote my novel. I first created an Instagram account to follow someone I found interesting, and even then I'd only think to pull up the site every month or so. Now if I miss a day of posting, I feel guilty. And trust me, there are only so many ways one can (not blatantly) say, "Buy my book". 

We're told to react to others' social media posts, and I do that if I like the account and can relate to what the person is saying, but when it comes to books, well, I haven't read any of them. I suppose I could go with, "This looks interesting". But in truth, I detest the dishonesty in pursuit of a goal. And it doesn't work anyway. 

There's a sci fi author whose posts I see every day, and what he does is paste in a screenshot of his daily sales and KU numbers, even if they're bad, which they usually are (still better than mine, even if he only sold one copy). I don't think I'm on board with "pity marketing". Really, people might feel sorry for you, but they'll also think your book is bad, which is why hardly anyone is buying it. The last thing I want people to know is that no one is buying my book.

An update on my second go-round with TikTok: I've gotten a few views, but no likes and no comments. I realize that they're not "true" videos, but put-together snippets from Canva, but it's all I've got. 

I typed, "I hate marketing" into my browser and found this article. It's more of a pep talk than it is "tips", but maybe that's what people like us need when we start out. (Just to note: The article alone is great marketing. Rope people in by empathizing and making them feel good about themselves. Clever!)

She also has a blog. Granted, her content is tailored more to website design, but a quick skim tells me that she addresses some business topics as well. I wonder if we authors limit ourselves by only searching out book marketing advice. Marketing is marketing, and we definitely have a product to sell. And you know what you'll get every time you type in, "how to market my book" ~ the same rehash of methods that simply don't work (for most of us). 

I've slowly begun to realize that I've been approaching marketing with a negative mindset, and I either need to change my attitude toward it or stop completely. I'm not quite ready to quit.