Hey sweetheart,
Welcome back to the Official EirianWrites blog! I’d been talking a lot on my podcasts about how I am working away from social media, but you know what, I kept friggen POSTING.
So, to help instill some new habits within, I’m using my blog the way other people use their Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The hardest part about being an indie/self published author is that, right in the beginning, no one has heard of you yet. It takes a while to gain traction and you MUST promote yourself.
I am very blessed and live in a community that truly supports independent authors. The first time I went to the Butte Silver Bow Library to sheepishly ask if I could donate a book, the librarian behind the counter exclaimed that they have HIS book there and they LOVE supporting local authors.
And that was back in 2021!
Flash forward to 2023, I finished the first PNK KanD book and wasn’t sure how to get press. I’ve kind of reeled back on the events because it is IMPOSSIBLE to balance working a 9-5 with writing AND gigging while also carving out family time.
So I went to the library, to speak to the youths.
The first time I tried, I’d accidentally scheduled my event the same day as high school graduation 😂 and no one showed.
We tried again in July and that day was probably the NICEST day all summer, and no one showed. 🤣
The third time around, we picked a day after school started but still early enough in the fall that the sun hasn’t gone down by 4 o’clock.
I also had posters made by Happy Sassy Bee Customs and was able to hang them several places, including the Middle and High Schools here.
Five teens and tweens showed up, and it was just the most amount of fun I’ve ever had at one of my events.
It was definitely worth the extra effort 😌 (you can definitely see my hesitation in the "before" picture there) Third time’s the charm, 100%
And honestly, it’s been that way for me for ALL of my events.
In 2021 I did several book signing events and it wasn’t until the third one that I had a fair bit of foot traffic.
In 2022 I gave a speech about being an author with PTSD to a group of four women (including the librarian), but it still feels great.
I would rather dress up and talk to one person about my work, than hide what I do 😌
So, stay positive and keep on trucking, sweetie! If at first you don’t succeed, try try again!
If you didn’t know, I also have mindset podcasts; one for authors and one for women. You can check them out here:
I really needed this! I've had a couple of book ideas, just sitting in my mind and random pieces of paper for years... And I mean several. Thank you for inspiring me to get going on my writing again!