...i'm a writer who's afraid to be seen.
drawing attention to myself has never been easy. i'm the kind of person who likes to work behind the scenes. i love to see others shine, accomplish their goals, even help them along if i can. i'm perfectly content to not be noticed.
on the other hand, i want everyone to know about my book... as long as i don't have to personally tell them. how crazy is that?
for example, a few weeks ago, in the course of normal conversation, i told someone i had written and self-published a novel. she thought that was amazing. the following week, i knew i would see her again, so, in the safety of my own house, i decided to bring a copy to show her.
once i got there, it was another story. it took me a full hour to work up the courage to show her. what if she didn't want to buy it? what if she thought i was bragging?
in that hour of debating back and forth with myself, i came to the conclusion that my fear of rejection is so great that i don't want to tell anyone about my book because they might not want anything do with it.
what a conundrum! i want people to read it. i think it's a good story. i've had many people *tell* me it's a good story. they've even told me they couldn't put it down.
all that and i still have trouble telling anyone about it. OY! such a silly goose i am.
how is anyone going to read it if they don't know i wrote it? how is anyone going to know i wrote it if i don't tell them about it? how am i going to tell them about it if i'm scared to death of what they'll think? why the heck do i even care?
there must be something in me that wants to be seen. i think i have something important to say. it's why i have this blog. it's why i'm going to once again step out of my comfort zone and try to promote my book and my blog. one of the best ways i know of to do that is to give away a copy of Eldala.
my official contest post will go up in a couple of days. since one of the book's main themes is courage, my post will be about courage. leave a comment on that post and you'll get one entry. put up a blog post about my contest (or at least mention it) and you'll get another entry. here's the link to my Eldala blog (which has links to Amazon, reviews, etc) : Eldala.blogspot.com
11 comments:
I have had trouble with this issue. It has been so hard to overcome but slowly I have been able to some out of my shell. My other profession has helped my confidence but writing is different. It can be so personal that it is hard to even talk about. I will check back about the contest and post it on my blog.:) I will check amazon as well:)
Take Care!
Hay you, I so understand this fix your feeling. I will post up a little later . Love you
Good for you! I think this is a wonderful way to face your fear and promote your book. :-)
Boy, can I relate. For someone who loves words, I have a hard time using them in front of people. Thanks for this enjoyable post.
I so understand. Keep at it, Michelle. Keep searching for the way that fits you to talk about your book without making it all about you. Because I'll bet deep inside, down below those doubts that say you're being self-centered, you'll know that it's not all about you after all.
And maybe there's this: focus on the benefit that your book will bring to your potential readers. What will they miss out on if you don't tell them? Then tell them that. If they'll miss out on an incredibly entertaining story, a few hours of blissful escape - tell them. If there's an underlying theme that relates to their situation that might inspire or help them - tell them.
I admire your courage as you face your fears and go again and again to tackle them.
Hi There,
I can relate to your post, especially where you said, "drawing attention to myself has never been easy...on the other hand, i want everyone to know about my book." I struggle with that too.
Great to see your book on Amazon, and I see Lauryn Abbott reviewed it as well, she is a great encourager.
I'm in the same boat! I can be extremely self-conscious about sharing my work with people, yet my dream is to get published so that I will HAVE to share my work with people. Irony... I think critique groups and writing groups might help with this problem so I've looked around town for new writers to meet. :)
I left you a little Sugar at m,y blog today, Michelle! :-)
I thought I left you a comment here, but maybe I didn't.
I've passed on the Sunshine Award to you. You may pick it up at my tarot blog, Tarot Guidance.
I completely understand your quandary, I have the same problem.
wow! thanks for all the great comments. nice to know i'm not the only one.
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