Confidence – is yours suffering? You can admit it – heck, the greatest artists and athletes in the world suffer from the same malady. Successful executives everywhere say they need help building confidence. Sometimes it’s what drives us to try harder and be better; other times it’s just a roadblock to what we’re trying to accomplish at any given moment.
For authors, this usually translates to, “My words aren’t good enough” or “I can’t sell myself” or “I have nothing to say.” And who knows, that may be true, but we doubt it. Typically, when an author is struggling to promote themselves in this social world they forget that “social” isn’t a one-way street into a cul-de-sac.
In fact, today’s social etiquette usually benefits from the 10 to 1 ratio. Meaning, you talk about things outside yourself most of the time, and every tenth post or so maybe say a bit about your book or article. And as an author, you have the social advantage of being able to keep the eye trained on the issues you promote within your work rather than yourself – which wins fans and followers – which boosts confidence!
So, while we certainly can’t expect a 500 word blog post to instantly cure our confidence fears, we can offer up some things you can talk about with your fans/followers when you’re feeling, shall we say, less than promotional:
- Curated materials – Pick a topic, any topic. Do a Google search or Google Alerts search, take a look at the top non-commercial results and share the links to a few of the resonant articles you find. Some programs and sites make this even easier (we use Curation Soft, that lets us drag others’ blog post previews and links right into a blog post of our own, giving them full credit for the link and offering our readers content we thought they’d dig.)
- Share links to works of other authors/artists who inspire you and may inspire your own fans.
- Scenes from the cutting room floor – Give readers brief bits of what’s left behind and why. These often turn into amusing anecdotes and/or really fun facts that your last edit just didn’t have the room to include.
- Let fans know about upcoming events and/or fans you interacted with at the last event. Your readers want to feel like they’re a part of your journey – your successes (and yes, even when you trip walking up to the podium). Human interest… which is all to say, it makes them feel more confident themselves.
- And always, always be promoting with the mindset that you’re not necessarily promoting yourself, but sharing information that’s of value to your reader, whether that’s improved knowledge, inspiration, or pure jolly entertainment! That’s how we build respect and trust among followers…
Have unique content you’ve shared with your fans to promote your words? Tell us all about it! Photo courtesy freedigitalphotos.net
This is a great little article. I find it greatly rewarding to support other writers and quote from their work or spread their good news. So it’s not all about me, me, me. I especially love number 5. It is about sharing information. Thanks.
Thanks, Pat! It’s true and promoting fellow authors does come around, too – We love to encourage our clients to connect with each other to exchange info, like each other’s posts and cross-promote. In the process some have sold more books. But what’s even cooler is that some have made fast friends – and that’s something we can’t put a value on!
Great post! Thank you for the reminder…I am guilty of that sometimes, I am afraid. I had coffee a couple of days ago with a writer friend whose YA romance has been flying high on Amazon for many months. She cautioned me about the same thing when it comes to Twitter…you shouldn’t bombard people every day with a call to action to buy your book. Find something (or many somethings) you are passionate about (chocolate cake, child literacy, the loyalty of dogs, etc.) and tweet, blog and post to FB about those…not your own book, service or product.
Absolutely Vivian and thanks for weighing in… And yes, let’s do chalk about chocolate cake 🙂
Good advice. It’s always good to remember “It’s not all about me”! Besides, when I’m helping someone else – focusing on whether they’re getting something out of the exchange – the whole experience becomes a lot more fun. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks, Carol – you’re right; it is more fun. So, tell us what you write!
These ideas are great not just when confidence wanes, but also when time is short.
Thanks for sharing them, especially the curating tip.
Yes, having a list of “go-to’s” when time is short really does help. Thanks for weighing in!
Great post. Specific issues were the reason I started writing in the first place. When I get frustrated and begin to lose confidence, I remember why I chose this path and it keeps me going. Thanks for the important reminder.
Thanks, Marney – we’ve read your words and yes, you MUST keep going – with the help of the right words it’s folks like you who’ll end the horrors of today’s slavery. Write on, good lady!