promote yo’self

Sun 12.19.21

We are having snow for Christmas in Portland Maine.  It can be a true pain in the derrière, there’s all that shovelling, and the treacherous roads and sidewalks, but when the first snow comes it’s magical.  I sit at the window and watch puffy little flakes fall gently to ground and it is Christmastime.  I’ve sent the Christmas cards, strung up the multi-colored lights, the decorations, the pretty tree ornaments, delicate filligreed balls I bought at a funky shop on Lower Broadway. Then there’s all these special treats one gets, little hors d’oeuvres, and fancy wines.

 It's been a week-end in which the truth of publishing descends on me like an anvil falling from a 10th story window. It is about publicity; who am I in my little corner of the USA that media-saturated buyers will shell out twenty-five bucks to read my memoir?  Can you see the enormity of this task? Sisyphean!  I will be responsible for publicizing the book. Do I want to dedicate my life to gaining "the public's" attention?

 Why publish? Why write for that matter? I write because I have a story to tell you; therefore, I need to publish in order to reach you. Here on my website I do very well. People like my stories and I've got a loyal following from all over the world. I do not accept ads, nor am I interested in reciprocal links. My site is a gift to you, an offering. I am responsible for it and pay my own way. Why go beyond this? Because I have a story to tell, and I am responsible for getting the word out to as many as I can reach.

And then there's the question of presentation. Let's face it, you don't see too many seeress' in the media. How to present oneself? My friend Carolyn Chute (The Beans of Egypt Maine) told me when I asked her if she was intimidated when she was on national TV shows, No, she said. That's not me in those interviews.  Yes, of course, the persona one creates.

 Publisher wants a picture of me for the book cover.  I have noted that most writers wear a sweater for their cover photos.  It is cold out there, baby! I’m working on creating a good selfie. To tell you the truth self promotion is not my strong suit.  Everybody and his brother or sister fill the internet with LOOK AT ME memes.  Since the book’s story  takes place in Manhattan I hope publisher sets me up to give readings in my old haunts.  The book is entitled The Tenant’s Tale: Bearing Witness to the Great Recession, which was a doozy of a recession in NYC.  The story is told mise en scène as you follow Tenant and her fellow New Yorkers (she is never named, the ubiquitous tenant) negotiating the their way through difficult financial times.  You can fill the pantry with canned goods to prepare for the hard times but how does a person fare psychologically, emotionally when the bottom falls out?  As nothing was resolved back then, we are shortly about to enter a déja vu of 2008, so it’s a book worth reading.

 Otherwise, I have a lot of research ahead of me for my brief for federal court. You know, the business with the landlord.   Am I feeling abashed, overwhelmed?  No, I’m having pretty good time.  I like work; doing good work pleases me, the right phrase, that light bulb moment of nailing the correct approach.

Merry Christmas, folks!

The favorite post this month has been the podcast, Fellow Writers