I first heard the term a decade ago when I was managing my son’s rock band, Dark Minions. Whose logo by the way I use as my profile picture.
Small plug there.
It was a local promoter that introduced us to that phrase and being a self explanatory concept, we did just that; shamelessly self promoted. It worked in so far as the band started getting regular gigs across the New England area and even served as a house band for awhile. Alas the bass player, one of my two sons in the band, is currently in Iraq. That has the band on a hiatus from playing live, but still promoting music Dark Minions has already recorded on radio shows and the web.
I bring the band up for two reason, one to shamelessly promote, and two, in defense of shamelessly self promoting. If they had not gone out and put flyers up, stickers all over and talked about themselves as if they were the next Black Sabbath… nobody would know them at all. Now, even though it is small, they have a following; a fan base to start with.
The same goes for us writers. Whether we are or not, we must believe that we are worthy of being read and shamelessly self promote. If we are not willing to climb to the top of a mountain and yell “HEY WORLD LOOK AT ME” who else will? We need to plug ourselves so that others will be attracted to us. If they like our stuff, maybe they will whisper to someone else, “check this person out”.
Of course bringing attention to our writing, means being critiqued, and being critiqued means learning to be better writers. But that’s a good thing and another subject for another post.
For now I will keep to the shameless self promotion.
Shout out loud that you are here.
Help others to shout, they may help you in the future.
Enter contests that fit your writing.
Be willing to be critiqued and learn.
Believe that you are worth reading.
Be willing to pimp your work out for free until you’ve proven people want to read you.
Go ahead leave a shout on this blog that you are here. Put an addy down where others can find your work.
Shamelessly self promote in this post. You’ve earned it.
Sometimes we have to do this. What is Twitter but a way for you and your friends to query one another? I know that authors I meet on Twitter or Facebook have stories. Often times, we can just ask them for something to read. If we are honest but generous, often times they will do the same in return. Promote, but pick when to do it. Make sure you know you are ready to be promoted.
ReplyDeleteDon't query if you aren't ready.
It's true, I did start twitter to get known like many others. An unexpected upshot of it has been that I have met a lot of good people and writers because of it,and enjoy the interaction we have. I have read more in the last month than I usually do and I truly believe I am a better writer than I was when I first started getting my name out. The bigest thing I have learned is there is a lot more to learn.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice. Networking is a necessary evil. Oh, and I really love your son's band's name. Minion has always been one of my favorite words. ;) I hope to have a few on my payroll some day! *laughs*
ReplyDeleteYeah that name is better than their first JOKER with the k backwards.
ReplyDeleteSo true -- in today's world, artists of every medium have to be willing to promote themselves. I love the name of your son's band. All my best to him while he's in Iraq. My thoughts are with you both.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the follow, and for signing up for the BPBlogfest!
Thanks for the thoughts they are appreciated. Looking forward to reading everyones answers to the blogfest questions. They should be interesting.
ReplyDelete