Networking

An article emailed to me from the Fussy Librarian is by an author who parlayed her many professional connections into free marketing for her book. Ostensibly her musings are supposed to be "advice" for other authors, but the article reads as one gigantic brag. "I know so many people!"

Fine. You go...girl.

You know what one of the hidden benefits of writing is? You don't have to interact with people! There's no definitive study I can find that quantifies the number of authors who are introverts, but Google states, "a significant portion of writers identify as introverts".

By the way, here's a really good article that discusses introversion as it relates to writing. The author "gets me". I have a hard time verbalizing my thoughts, and it's not because I'm stupid.

"For some introverts, speaking out especially to those they don’t know very well can be unnerving or awkward. Add shyness and anxiety to the mix and this problem is 10x worse especially in crowds."

I wouldn't say I'm necessarily anxious, but I am naturally shy, as much as I've managed to disguise it when I had to, but I'm aware of that awkward feeling anytime someone asks me about myself. I lean into one-word answers, two at the most, before changing the subject.

Nowadays my social interactions are few ~ fine by me ~ but for most of my working life I was in careers that required talking to people...a lot. I'm not sure how that happened, but I've alternately been a manager, a supervisor, a trainer. Sometimes it seems like all one does in those positions is talk. It wasn't difficult for me, because I was discussing business, not my personal life, and I often enjoyed those conversations. (I'm not entirely antisocial; just mostly.)

The woman above, who took advantage of utilized her colleagues for free publicity had a distinct advantage that most authors don't, because her nine-to-five involved working with creatives. One had a podcast, another was a local TV personality, one friend published a commercial website, and on and on.

Know who I worked with? People who, if they possessed any creative skills, kept them well hidden. They were more "numbers" people, or systems analysts or haughty VP's whose main goal in life was burnishing their professional reputations, hoping and scheming to one day ascend to top dog at the company. (I really hated the last group. They never hesitated to step on the other guy to make themselves look good.) So, no, even if I was still in the corporate world, I wouldn't have anyone who could sell my book for me.

The other factor this woman has that someone like me doesn't, is that she's apparently ballsy. In her position I'd probably want to ask for favors, but I wouldn't. "Maybe they'll come to me," I'd hope. The rare times I've ever asked for help, I got shot down, so I have to be pretty desperate to even ask. Plus, I don't like imposing. I'm one of those people who can't say no, even when asked to do something I absolutely don't want to do, so I can relate to being imposed upon. And I don't want to be that person.

As an introvert, writing is fun because none of my characters ever disagree with me or place unwanted burdens on me or ask me personal questions. They don't do or say things that cause me to quietly seethe. In fact, if I don't like how things are going, I just change them to things I do like. It's a very peaceful existence. 

Also as an introvert, when it comes to marketing I know my limitations. I will never appear on a podcast nor on TV; I won't film myself for a TikTok video. I'll never create a YouTube channel. I might agree to an audio interview, but I'm easily tongue-tied. Written would be my preference. I won't set up a booth at a book fair, although that would probably be the least objectionable endeavor, because people tend to move on and not linger. 

And now that my only co-worker is my computer, it's the only thing I have to lean on for favors. Oddly, it never grants me any. 

By all means, if you don't mind annoying people and you have cohorts who can help with your marketing efforts, go for it. You might want to acknowledge to yourself, however, that while some of them may agree to help you, they're going to hate you for asking.