Make Things Happen

My post for this week is small, but mighty.

            MAKE.

            THINGS.

            HAPPEN.

            The world as I knew it has changed for me. My Author-In-Training days of spending huge blocks of time writing and thinking about what I wanted to write have gone the way of the Dodo. Endless hours of marketing have taken its place.

            Marketing isn’t bad. It helps you find an audience so that you can actually have people read what you write. And I find it amazingly fun now that I have a better grasp of what I’m doing. 

            The reason I’m writing about this today is because I am excited to see the progression of my career as an author. I have found that each step along the way leads you to the next. Built on the foundation of your previous work each new step takes you to greater heights.

            As an example, thanks to a suggestion from my publisher I contacted my local Barnes and Noble store and arranged a book signing. The obvious benefits of that event is the opportunity to sell a few books and meet some readers who may become fans. That alone is reason enough to justify the effort to make that happen.

            However, the Community Relations Manager turned out to be not only an amazingly friendly person, but one who had plenty of keen insights on marketing. Based on a discussion we had during the book signing I agreed to help setup a science-fiction panel for the store. My efforts to network and recruit other authors to join the panel have resulted in my connecting with individuals who have knowledge of resources and events of their own. Those in turn will no doubt result in even more marketing opportunities.

            The important point in all of this is to get out there and make things happen. I realize that not every effort will pay off in a big way, some of them may even be a waste of your time, but if you continue to plug away enough doors will be opened for you to succeed.

            Or as Nike has said for years, “Just do it.”