Marketing. It's the ten thousand pound dragon in the room that everybody is trying to slay. I saw one of my publishers state that one million books are getting published every year. Though that seems high, with the amount of small publishers, big publishers, vanity presses and self publishers it could be accurate. So the question is how do you make your book stand out? How do you kill the dragon?
The answer is one sword strike at a time.
Blogs abound. They thrive. There are blogs on pretty much every topic one could imagine. Certainly your book has some classification doesn't it? Whatever your genre is cooking, science fiction, computers, romance, or whatever, I am sure that somewhere there is a blog that is representative of your writing. Most likely there are a multitude. So why not join forces and help one another out? I mean that dragon is real big. Why not double team him for a while?
I am earnestly promoting my book "Poet To The Poor, Poems Of Hope For The Bottom One Percent" http://amzn.to/2ibutsP It is a book that among other things tries to help the world. In particular uplifting the spirits of the most disenfranchised in our society. So when I came across KarmicReaction it was a natural fit.
The goals of KarmicReaction "are unity between social workers/ activists and oppressed populations that lack adequate and proper resources...." It is something created by a stay at home mom who wants to change the world. In her own little way, through her blog, she is pursuing her noble ambitions. Let me invite you to take a look.
Of course the blog has a beauty of it's own as you will quickly notice. The creator uses words, photography and other images to convey her message. The creator is a woman who earned a degree from a university in the Detroit area. She draws upon her life experiences and talents to get her point across. The creator has kindly published a poem I wrote for her blog. She asked me to write a poem with the title "Detroit Women".
Herein comes the beauty of the whole thing. My wife is from Grenada and they have a saying, "One hand washes the other and together they wash the face." KarmicReaction posted my poem with links to my Amazon page. As a result of that another woman requested I write a poem for her. She too posted my poems and posted links to my page. In turn I am now writing this article. KarmicReaction is getting some free publicity.
Do you see how it works? Not only has a slight movement begun but relationships are built. I guess you could call it networking but I prefer to label it friendship. In a small way based on our common concern, in this case empowering the oppressed, we have helped each other.
There is no substitute for a product that will please people. As a writer you must believe in your own talent. You have to believe enough to try to get some attention to your work. By going to a blog that coincides with what your writing is about, you have connected with an audience that is already in tune with you.
Personally this has been a lesson to me. I believe that in the future I am going to seek out other blogs and offer my writing skills. I am determined that I will one day slay that dragon or at least fight him enough till he turns tail and runs away.
In conclusion let me say that the artist is made in the struggle. It is persevering through tough times and continuing the pursuit of your dream that is essential. KarmicReaction has been a refreshing well of water to me. One that I am sure I will revisit from time to time to post relevant writings on. I hope that you too will check in on them from time to time as well. It really is an excellent blog and one with a purpose. Oh, and if you do drop by, leave them a little note that I sent you their way.
John Kaniecki is a native of Brooklyn , New York . While he has no memory of New York City but he is proud to call himself a native New Yorker. John spent a few years in Illinois but grew up in Pequannock , New Jersey . After graduating high school John went off to Hoboken to attend Steven's Institute of Technology .
Despite being in engineering school, John was clueless to the direction his life should take. After two years John dropped out of Steven's. He became a Christian and hitchhiked across the United States . Several months later he was hospitalized with bipolar disorder.
At this time John began to write poetry. A self published book called "A Day's Weather" shows his mind at this time. After years of struggle John eventually returned to college and graduated from Montclair State University . John went to work stocking shelves at Sears and then worked with an engineering firm. John married Sylvia Smith in 2004.
Once married John returned to writing. His writing has been published in over seventy outlets. His books are "Murmurings of a Mad Man" a book of poetry by eLectio Publishing, "Poet to the Poor, Poems of Hope for the Bottom One Percent" by Dreaming Big Publications, "Words of the Future" a collection of science fiction stories published by Witty Bard and a horror novella "Scarecrow, Scarecrow" published by Jaded Books Publishing. Just out is his poetry book called "Sunset Sonnets" published by Local Gem Poetry. Also his memoirs "More Than The Madness" that deals with his successfully coping with mental illness is soon to be published by Dreaming Big Publications.
Presently John is a full time caretaker for his wife. Also he volunteers as a missionary for the Church of Christ at Chancellor Avenue ; which is in the inner city of Newark . He stays up light at night and writing in any free time in hopes of becoming a professional writer.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JohnsPoems/
Twitter @JohnKaniecki
Website http://johnkaniecki.weebly.com/
Goodreads John Kaniecki
Amazon Page http://amzn.to/2iJ2p3u
