Marketing and the introverted writer
There is nothing as hard as marketing yourself. As a natural introvert, to me it's about having to put myself out of my comfort zone and I am always seeking new ways to do things I feel ok with. I will often write where I feel comfortable (Im sitting on my bed at the moment) and add a poem or two to my site when I am marketing, yet I also plan. (Did I tell you I bought a great planner but also created one you can download)
Many writers would probably resonate with this. Hiding behind our laptops, we while away the hours plotting and writing until we come up with a readable draft. Then we spend more hours editing and rewriting before finally sending off our work to an editor who then pulls it apart and asks for more work to be done - again in isolation.
Marketing is hard. Unless you're a natural at it, I find that it takes resolve to work on building an audience. Between social media platforms and newsletters, I try to make sure that what I am posting to my readers is a little interesting. Canva makes this fairly easy with its sample ideas and creative designs, yet I am still to find the perfect marketing tool. (Let me know if you find one)
Those who have been at it for a while suggest that you need to build an email list - yet unless you get subscribers that's also hard. Not everyone wants to receive a newsletter on a regular basis. And so today I decided to do a little research before I wrote this newsletter.
The Good Trade suggest that there are ways to inspire creativity through monthly newsletters and give suggestions on 12 Newsletters Worth Subscribing To For Writers. It's worth having a look at,
The Empowered Author asks questions authors regularly ask themselves, suggesting that the answer is YES
Do I need an author newsletter?
What would I put in my newsletter?
Do my readers really want to hear from me so regularly?
Then there is the Author Learning Centre. An American based site, it gives ideas on what to include and what not.
Then there is Writer's Edit who suggest that you need to master your online presence and a newsletter is part of that.
So what should we do? Given that I have started this, I guess to me, it's about connecting with your audience. Mine is a mix of readers and writers. As a writer myself, I like to think that I can share content that is helpful. For my readers, I like to give snippets of what I am working on and discounts.
So what will you do?
