I agree about writing. I agree that social media can be used as a tool for the ego. And I agree that it can definitely dilute our focus as writers.
However, this got me thinking about writers promoting
themselves. When you are pursuing the indie
route, unless you pay someone else to do
it for you, you have to promote yourself.
How is that different to a publisher doing your marketing and PR? And if a third party is doing it on your
behalf, they are still telling the world how great you are. So is it okay for
someone else to big you up, but not okay for you to express this? Perhaps it’s a symptom of our weird British
modesty - a fear of blowing our own trumpet?
That it is somehow wrong to believe you are good, let alone voice that
self-confidence?
An indie writer is a business. You have to promote a business to survive and
no-one seems to object to this but again when it comes to a creative, somehow
different standards apply. How else are
we supposed to do it? Are we supposed to
starve in garrets http://creatabot.co.uk/2012/11/01/garrets-and-gatekeepers-by-jane-ayres/
while we sit back and wait to be recognised and lifted from obscurity to the realms
of fame? The internet has provided us
with unparalleled opportunities to bypass this old hierarchical system. It doesn’t mean it’s easy (it’s very tough
indeed!) but it does mean we don’t have to wait for approval; we can put
ourselves and our work “out there” and wait for the recipients, be they
readers, listeners, etc. to respond directly without the barrier of a
gatekeeper.
