It is hard to swim against the current, but oh so worth it! Bravo- it is so refreshing to read this instead of the usual ‘how to get 16 billion followers’ line.
Time and again, I've seen, with dismay, attempts to hard sell art. It soon ceases to be that: art. Writing, IMO, is an art, all the techniques and tropes notwithstanding.
Creativity, when married to marketing, just degenerates into "creative marketing".
I remember a friend of mine who published his first novel some 20 years ago and he confessed that when it was published, he was on Amazon every hour trying to see how many people had bought his book and then he discovered that it was late at night and he was constantly hitting the refresh button. Mercifully he went to bed.
I think though that part of writers' compulsion for numbers is that we want as many people as possbile to read our work. Simple as that. And we've been wedged into this world of marketing which, truth be told, is anathema to us quiet souls. And we flap about looking for the right formulae feeling out of ourselves, out of our, as you put it, authenticity.
As I used to tell the kids I worked with, Just Write! Don't Worry!
“sometimes our flaws are symptoms of what make us good people.” Oh yes.
Even on Substack I see the “marketing” that goes on to attract subscribers. It’s exhausting.
I see that the independent authors who have mastered the art of marketing themselves do really well.
But where does that leave all the other great writers…?
It is hard to swim against the current, but oh so worth it! Bravo- it is so refreshing to read this instead of the usual ‘how to get 16 billion followers’ line.
Time and again, I've seen, with dismay, attempts to hard sell art. It soon ceases to be that: art. Writing, IMO, is an art, all the techniques and tropes notwithstanding.
Creativity, when married to marketing, just degenerates into "creative marketing".
Great piece, Kerry. Yes, there’s only the art - everything else is what we bring in on our shoes.
What a great piece. It resonated so much with me.
I remember a friend of mine who published his first novel some 20 years ago and he confessed that when it was published, he was on Amazon every hour trying to see how many people had bought his book and then he discovered that it was late at night and he was constantly hitting the refresh button. Mercifully he went to bed.
I think though that part of writers' compulsion for numbers is that we want as many people as possbile to read our work. Simple as that. And we've been wedged into this world of marketing which, truth be told, is anathema to us quiet souls. And we flap about looking for the right formulae feeling out of ourselves, out of our, as you put it, authenticity.
As I used to tell the kids I worked with, Just Write! Don't Worry!
Ahh, if only I could take my own advice.
Thanks so much for this piece.