The Tuesday Twaddle is back!

I've been frantically busy these past few weeks and my YAtopian friends have been flying the flag for me in my absence.  Apologies if you've missed your fortnightly dose of Twaddle, but fret not my lovelies, I'm here with twaddle...and lots of it.

Today's twaddle is on promotion.

Firstly, let me say. I hate promoting me and my book. I don't think any author actually enjoys flogging their wares to anyone who will listen, but alas, it comes with the job description.  For the last few weeks I've been working the PR and marketing trail, doing guest posts on blogs, gazillions of interviews, live chats, radio interviews, magazine interviews, and of course my fingers are surgically attached to my keyboard with a direct link to Twitter and Facebook, the two lifelines for the debut author. 

Don't get me wrong, it's fun doing these things, and the people you meet along the way are awesome, but it sucks up writing time, and writers by nature are usually solitary animals, happy to while away their time tapping out a new idea on their computer or immersed in a great book.

Self promotion is a necessary part of the writing process, and it's one that is accepted in the writing / reading community.  In general, bloggers and readers alike, open their welcoming arms to debuts and are happy to listen to the stories, and help promote new titles.  There's a whole community and a thriving business built up around doing just that, and it works as long as writers don't go overboard and talk about nothing but themselves and their 'literary masterpieces', which I think most authors do beautifully, creating a balance with promotion and entertainment.

But I've recently read a few posts, by authors from higher up the food chain, about self promotion, and how they don't really approve of it. And they kind of got by back up.  You see there are authors out there that don't really have to self promote.  They have full backing of their publisher, and huge marketing budgets to put their book everywhere, on TV, on the radio, in newspapers and magazines, and in the hands of all the right people with the connections to get it noticed. They come out with a huge hoohaw, fantastic blurbs, sparkly confetti, the works. The release is usually followed by book tour in several cities, with high profile events and conference appearances.  It's all amazing, I hope that someday I'll have all that too, but in the meantime, I have to make best use of the resources I have, which is you guys, the readers, the bloggers, my friends, my time, and ultimately...my sanity.

So to the authors with all the sparkly confetti in your hair... you are awesome, I aspire to be just like you, but have sympathy for the authors who have no other option but to self promote, please try to remember there are many of us who don't get the confetti.  So until I do, I'm going to be emptying my hole puncher all around me creating my own confetti, because this is my time to shine, and we only get a small window of opportunity. And to all the other authors out there without the the sparkly confetti, I'll save some of my hole puncher confetti for you...you deserve it too.

Talk soon guys.

Leigh