A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

I am so far behind in blog posting I don't know where to begin. One of my New Year's "plans" (not resolutions, which tend to produce more guilt with me than profit) is to post more regularly. And there's lots to post about.

The big thing is that Zinovy's Journey is published, printed and "out there," finally! Such a good feeling! So far, I've sold or given away over 200 copies and I'm getting some good reader reviews. I'm also collecting a list of typos and other errors that will need to be corrected before I order the next batch of books--relatively easy to do since the book is print-on-demand.

But the good "finally published" feeling lasted only about three weeks. Now it's back to plodding along, one day at a time, after a very short and somewhat uneasy transition from the writing mode to the marketing one. It's about a long obedience in the same direction.

I'm uneasy with the marketing mode because I know even less about marketing than I did about writing when I began this project 35 years ago, but I'm moving forward one step at a time. I'm expanding my social network: wrestling with the problem of how to merge my new writer/reader "friends" with my personal ones on Facebook; still unclear about the value of Twitter, but trying to figure out how to Tweet effectively; looking toward e-publishing later in the month.

Meanwhile, I've received a good review by Tracy Krauss, a great new author/blogger friend. And Janet Sketcheley, another author/blogger, and a faithful promoter of Canadian writers, has done a blog interview. I've also been a guest author at a friend's Bible study group, and am looking forward to doing more of that kind of face-to-face interacting with readers.

Since it's only been two months since the book was released, I'm off to a fairly good start in the marketing department. I never expected a great burst of excitement.

Because my book is self-published, its journey from "virtually unknown" to "world-famous ;-)" will be gradual. It will grow in notoriety from the baseline of my friends and relatives to the broader reader population at a snail's pace. That's okay with me. I have no editor or publisher pushing me to make sales happen. (One of the many advantages of self-publishing!)

Because the story deals with universal themes, I don't think the book will become outdated, so I'm not worried about how soon it reaches readers. But I do feel a responsibility to faithfully inch along on the marketing and distribution road. If the book was worth spending years writing, it's got to be worth some effort at promoting.

So that's a catch-up on my doings. For something a little more interesting, I'll leave you with one of Passive Guy's latest posts. Referencing Mary W. Walters, he says: Creative Writers Can Be Difficult to Detect During Job Interviews. If you're wondering if you're a writer, read this article. It gives a clear description of this odd kind of person.

If you haven't yet discovered The Passive Voice, check it out. Passive Guy, as he calls himself, is a veritable concordance of information about self-publishing, and he's got a great sense of humor so is fun to read. The website is chock full of helpful, interesting content, that will come to your e-mail inbox several times a week if you sign up to receive it. Highly recommended!

A year ago, my New Year's musings were focused on the publishing journey ahead. The coming year will carry me down the marketing road. I'm excited to see where the tandem bicycle ride will take me this coming year. I love being seated behind the greatest cyclist the world has ever known.

May your writing journey in 2012 be eventful, and satisfying beyond your wildest expectations.