The Power of SMALL - Smart Tips for Storytellers

If you’ve been in a coma the last few weeks of January 2020, then you may have missed the release of American Dirt (Jeanine Cummins, Flatiron Books/ MacMillan, 2020, New York), its synchronous pick for “Oprah’s Book Club,” and the immediate backlash against the author and publisher, as well as Oprah Winfrey, and basically against the entire publishing industry. Two issues were illuminated: First, the claim from certain spokespeople for the Latino community that the Latino voice was grossly misrepresented in the book, written by a “white woman” who they say had no right to speak for them, who stole their identity, and whose publisher made inexcusable errors in both the edit and marketing of the book. I read the book and wrote about this issue, and my take on it, here  in an article titled, "STOP hating on American Dirt - PART I   [Spoiler alert: I don’t entirely disagree, but I still devoured and liked the book.] Second, the assertion that the publishing industry a...

Every author struggles with the “M” word – Marketing!   (What word did you think I meant?)   The thought of marketing your own books can strike terror in the hearts of many authors, most of whom, let’s face it, prefer to communicate through the written word. Yet, regardless of what path you take to being published, no one escapes from the need to conquer their fears and face your adoring—or perhaps indifferent, public. The key to overcoming your fear of this interaction is this: it’s not about you. Does your book have a purpose, a message you hope will change someone’s life? Marketing is your way of getting this message into the hands of people who otherwise would never have heard it. Focus on your potential readers; care about them, learn about them, listen to them, and your fear will begin to melt away. Ok, so let’s assume for the balance of this article that you have to take the reins of your own marketing. Now what? Talk to ten different experts on the ...