By Neal Wooten
“Don’t Be Shy”. That’s a tough thing for some people because many authors are by nature introverts. I know some of you are not comfortable talking in front of groups or talking about yourselves and would rather stay in your homes and write. Unfortunately, if you’re going to be a successful author, this is something you will have to overcome. You’ve probably spent years or even decades honing your craft as far as writing a book, but you think this is something you just can’t learn. But it is. And you must.
People who know me won’t believe this, but I used to be shy. In college, I twice dropped out of speech class, each time was right before I had to stand in front of the class and give my first presentation. How did I finally get through speech class? I didn’t. I changed my major. My evolution came outside of school in the form of necessity. I was always broke in college and worked a full-time job and several part-time jobs. One was as a standup comedian. By the time I finished college, I made that into a career. After several decades, I can’t even remember what it was like to have stage fright or butterflies.
Many of you probably know the story of Paulo Coelho whose book, The Alchemist, was published in 1988. It was published by a small publisher and like most small publishers, they did not have the deep pockets or reach in the industry for much promotional efforts. After two years, the book had barely sold anything. Paulo, convinced of his book’s potential, took matters into his own hands. (Something I always recommend.) He went door-to-door telling people about his book. We hear that expression a lot, door-to-door, but who actually does that? Paulo did. And we know the end results. [EDS NOTE: For those who don’t know, over 150 million copies of the book have sold worldwide, making it one of only 9 books that have sold over 100 million copies since publishing.]
Self-promotion is not easy, but neither is learning how to spell hor der… hors d’ver… hors d’vou… however the snack food before a meal is written. But just like you learned how to write that, how to structure sentences, how to create realistic characters, and everything else you taught yourself to become a writer, promoting yourself is just another talent you have to refine. Like everything in life, the more you practice, the better you get. The more schools you speak at, the more libraries you read at, the more interviews and public appearances you do, the easier it becomes.
The main piece of advice I give authors who have written or published a book is this. Ask. Don’t be afraid to ask. Don’t think you’re being pushy to ask. Ask people to proofread your book. Ask people for reviews. Ask important people and famous people for reviews. And most importantly, ask people to buy your book. The worst thing they can say is “no”. If you’re an author, you’ve already heard that word a million times. What’s a few more?
People often ask me how I got so many NYT best-selling authors to review my books. How did I get actors, musicians, politicians, journalists, and other famous people to read and review my books. My answer is always the same. I ask them.