BUT
Holy crap--I always thought writing the book was the hard part. Sure, everyone says getting published is even more work, and it was, but not in that time-consuming, five hours in front of my computer every day sort of way. But this promotion stuff? I. Am. Freaking. Out.
Samhain has these awesome author loops and forums, which help with all those promotional and marketing things that need to get done. This morning, I went through and joined all of the ones I thought would help me along. Fact: THERE ARE A ZILLION OF THEM.
Now, me--I'd always had a somewhat hazy plan for marketing my book. Things like:
- Get a website (I mean, technically this is a website, but not exactly what I had in mind for my fancy authorial career, you know?)
- Get author pictures taken (I know I don't need one for ebooks, but I want them. So there.)
- Be more interactive on Twitter (It's work, dammit!)
- Get an author Facebook page (See above.)
- Sit back and watch the sales pour in (Oh, admit it. You imagine this, too.)
Of course, I realize this list isn't exactly going to cut it in the real world. I've got enough author friends and information under my belt to know that there are promotional mountains ahead of me. And these author loops? Well, they just serve to reinforce that idea.
I'm hoping, as time goes on, that I'll feel more comfortable navigating those forums, asking my questions, and getting concrete answers. And my marketing-background husband is helping me to get a firm business plan in place so that I can take things one step at a time.
But for now, I'm going to sit here and weep into my triple tall caramel macchiato. I think the real work is about to begin.