The Marketing Campaign Begins

When I first signed my contract with Wild Child Publishing, I was taken aback slightly when they asked me what my marketing plan was. Marketing plan? What's this nonsense? Isn't that what the publisher does? Unsure on how to answer the question, I told them honestly that I had a Facebook page and a blog, and that I was willing to work hard on both in order to generate some attention to both. Apparently, that answer was good enough, because they sent me a contract and now here I am today.

And where am I today exactly? Well, after months and months of waiting, I was assigned an editor with Wild Child. This was very exciting news for me. After all this waiting, I was beginning to worry that my book would forever be trapped in the limbo. But in the span of just a few days, my perceptions have been turned upside down; not only do I have an editor, but I have been instructed to begin my marketing campaign.

I should note that when I first answered the "marketing" question, I started to do some research and asked some people in my writing group about what I might expect. With e-book publishing, the authors are required to do some promoting. Sure, I have Wild Child's name and their resources for actually selling the book, but it is up to me to really get my name out there. One of the things that my editor told me that has really stuck with me these last few days is that my name is like a brand now, and my book is just one of my products. I have to attract attention to my name in order for people to get interested in my writing...at least, that's how I understand it.

This is exactly what I mean by a change in my perceptions. For years and years now, I have lived by this small idea in my head that my book it was all about the writing. And while that's true to some extent, it isn't entirely about the writing. It is also about me, and now that my book is close to publication, I am realizing this truth more and more.

My career as a writer is beginning, and I cannot sit idly by and expect to simply collect a check. My name will not be known in the sea of e-books out there unless I make it known. It really is up to me, and that, I think, is perhaps the scariest part of this entire endeavor.