Today is release day! And my feelings, as usual, are all over the place.
I’ve been working this past week on creating an author presence on social media. I now have a Facebook Page and a business account on Instagram. The image above is what I used for my cover photo on the FB page. I spent time yesterday working on a couple of story specific and “Now Available” graphics. All of this feels very surreal and intimidating. I don’t know how to self promote. It’s not something I do often and the feeling of imposter syndrome makes it incredibly difficult to feel like anyone would care. As a matter of fact, I worry about being annoying.
Earlier today I got a text from my co-author that said “Not gonna lie – posting all these promo images on social media makes me feel like Craig shouting ‘Like and subscribe!’” I hadn’t made that connection to our story, but it’s totally spot on. The difference being that Craig (character in A Fool for You, or story for the anthology) wasn’t the least bit bothered about saying it at the end of every video. I, on the other hand, feel like my friends and family must be getting annoyed already, and I’ve only posted about the book twice on my personal accounts (and felt intimidated to send an invite to my author page to everyone). I don’t want them to feel like the have to purchase the book just because they know me. After all, I’m fully aware that Gothic Romance is not everyone’s cup of tea.
I was in a zoom for the SABC this morning and happened to mention something about the book release (I forget what the topic was) and tried to rush past that part because I felt uncomfortable. I know that everyone in that group is totally supportive and wouldn’t think I was bragging or anything, but I didn’t want to bring too much attention to it either.
So here’s the dilemma, how does someone with Social Anxiety promote themselves and their work? How do I set aside my feelings of inadequacy and “I’m bothering them” to let people know about my work? How do I get past the feeling that I’ll come across as bragging or pushy when I post? How do other authors do it? I just feel so weird saying “Hey, look at me! Look at this thing I did! Aren’t I great?” I mean, I know that’s not really what I’m saying, and I never think that about other people who promote their creativity, but it’s how it feels when I do it.
However, in the case of this book, I at least feel like I have to do it for the other authors at least. They deserve to have their work promoted. So I’m pushing past my uneasiness and will post at least through the next few days. I wish I could know if it even makes a difference. I don’t even know how many copies have been sold. And really it doesn’t matter, I suppose. Yes, I’ll receive a portion of the royalties, but that’s not at all why I contributed. I guess it’s kind of like why I write here. Because I have a need to write, to create, and to feel connected to the world beyond myself in some way. While also being terrified of being seen.
I guess I should share the link to order the book. In case any of you are interested. But seriously, I almost didn’t because I don’t want to be a bother… https://books2read.com/u/3JorOg
Leave a Reply