It’s been a couple of months since I went on the self-publishing venture, and I have to admit there is nothing more difficult than promoting one’s own work. I do take heart in knowing that I am not alone in this vast swirl of voices screaming to be heard. Twitter is packed with so many writers they’ve formed whole communities. But even considering oneself part of the #writerscommunity feels like shouting into a vacuum. There’s just so many of us!
By far the simplest social media platform to use is FaceBook. Hey, writers can even create a page to showcase accomplishments and update fans on next-project progress. However, FaceBook comes with drawbacks for the thousands of unknown or little-known writers of the world. Because, no matter how many posts or updates are written on said page, if the followers aren’t there, we may as well be pissing in the wind.
I do suppose FaceBook knows this and therefore has come up with a plan to help “Boost” our posts for more exposure and for a small fee—of course.
I found myself hovering over the “Boost” button several times but never clicking it; until finally, I did. I decided to take advantage of what this social platform was offering. Hey, I had just posted a new book trailer video of my debut novel, Deep Water, and figured, why not “Boost” it? I need more people to see it.
Right?
Not so fast!
Deep Water’s antagonist happens to be a serial killer, and yes, there is violence there, but the video isn’t graphic. It is dark and it does allude to murder while leaving the graphic material for the reader of the actual book.
Even so, FaceBook shot it down. The video couldn’t be “Boosted”. What? Yeah, that was a kick in the shorts. I do suppose that was FaceBook practicing the CYA philosophy. Yet, another road block in an avenue of promotion. I stated earlier that FaceBook was the simplest social platform to use; I never said it was the best.
Then, a few days ago, I decided to give DigitalBookGirl a shot. They had, after all, given me a free shout out back in August, and so, I committed to their six-months of promotion—for a fee, of course. But they have a bigger podium and larger crowd than I do. Not to mention their fees are reasonable with three, choice options.
To all my fellow writers and authors out there, the struggle to be heard is real. Do let us take advantage of any outlet we can find.
By the way, wanna watch a video?
Writer Lora Kempka 