I know a few people who wrote books and feel bad about promoting them.
They tell me, “I hate self promoting. It feels so cheesy, like I’m annoying people with so many promotions about my book.”
My answer to them is always the same, “OK, next time don’t write a book. Write a diary. It’s a lot easier and you don’t have to promote it at all.”
Harsh? Maybe.
True? Definitely.
If you wrote something you want on a shelf you better promote it.
If you want something you want on your nightstand, you don’t have to promote it.
Think of it this way, if you were a plumber and a customer said, “Can you fix my toilet?” You wouldn’t reply, “I don’t like to talk about what I do or how I can help people. It feels too self promotional.”
Instead you’d tell them exactly how you can fix their toilet because you’re a good plumber!
Are there ways to be too promotional and hurt your audience? Without a doubt. We all have friends that promote their dream so often they alienate everyone. This happens so often in publishing I’ve started coaching other authors on how to market books. Why am I doing this? Because I learned a lot when my last book hit the New York Times Bestsellers list. Turns out I’m a good plumber.
If you believe in your business, book, dream, etc. you better start promoting it.
If you think it’s something that will help people, quit denying that help out of some sort of false humility.
Otherwise, get busy on your diary.
Question:
Do you ever feel guilty when you self promote?