When I set out to learn about my mother's bridge club, the Jewish octogenarians behind the matching outfits and accessories, I never expected to fall in love with them. This is the story of the ladies, their game, their gen, and the ragged path that led me back to my mother.
Allthats interesting.com
The four horsemen of the apocalypse: marketing, publicity, social media, events. Almost every author I talk to says, I’m bad at marketing. I’m bad at publicity. I hate social media. You get the picture. My hero P.T. Barnum said, “Do you know what happens if you don’t do any marketing?” A beat. “Nothing.” I think authors don’t realize that they need to do the heavy lifting. They need to treat their book as if it’s a new store and it’s their job to get people to come in and buy something. I get that you can’t be good at all of it, but you can get good at something. If you’re as charismatic as me, you’re going to want to set up your own tour and get out there. I spoke to thirty or more bridge clubs with the Bridge Ladies. I sent them letters, offered my talk for free if they sold books at the event. I hired students and fed them beer and pizza to cull the list of bridge clubs with contact info. Non-fiction is easier in many ways, but there are more than one way to skin a cat. (I actually think there’s probably one or two ways tops.) If you want to sell your book you have to go way outside of your comfort zone.
Where is your comfort zone?
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Betsy Lerner 
Good gawd this is some truth here. In Canada the book review is dead. It’s all about scrapping in the streets to find a little ray of sun for your debut. Lately my (dis)comfort zone is virtual book visits. Lots of them. It’s fun (mostly) and seems to be a good way of spreading the word. I’ve had to finally lurch onto Instagram. Next there’s a competition that will require a full court press to cajole folks to cast a vote for my little book. It’s a full time job but nobody else is gonna do it.
Bobbi,
If you’re talking about The Good Women of Safe Harbor count me in! I loved that book. Let me know when and where and I’ll vote for your book-no cajoling necessary! ❤
Oh thank you so much!! I’ll keep you posted…
Thanks!
Right where I sit-home. But I can do uncomfortable…
Well, these days you can hire people to do all of the above.
I have a friend who’s a marketing whiz for creatives They ghostwrite blogs,.Instagram, FB, youtube, etc etc. The writers cut a check and are able to do their thing alone, in their comfort zone of solitude.
“Where is your comfort zone?”
Within the perimeter.
Where is your comfort zone?
I used to drive from Jersey into NYC, like I was heading to to the center of my little New England town in Connecticut now. Years ago I was interviewed on a national TV station (in NYC) that paid for me to be limo’ed three hours each way for a five minute piece about (…it doesn’t matter now). Would i do all that again?
The ride was great, getting my make-up done by a pro, terrific. Met a couple of famous people in the green-room before I went on. Is all of that part of my comfort zone? Hell no. My keyboard is.
The forest. Sigh. There’s a time to hibernate and a time to forage. I’ll leave if I have to and I can tuck in my claws and play nice, but mostly I like my quiet spot of the world.
What is my comfort zone . . .
Well, since the pandemic, it appears that EVERYONE is more comfortable at home. No wonder everyone wants to be a writer. I digress.
While I enjoy and am in my comfort zone here at my desk, I also know I get sick of myself and my dribbling, a.k.a. writing, and don’t mind getting out and about. By the end of this year, I will have done close to 50 events and covered close to 5,000 miles. Bookstores, book clubs, festivals, you name it. It’s been fun, and it’s not over yet.
I know just enough about social media to get by – but that, THAT I could do without. It’s like a snake-pit sometimes.
After 30+years of writing and hearing others’ stories of 1 person at a reading, if and when I get my novels published I will yell it from the mountaintops. I will also hire a publicist as soon as I have a contract.